Emily Dickinson Archive

One writer, in reference to EMILY DICKINSON specifically, expressed this wonderful thought:

“penmanship is a form of self-presentation”

This observation is so true. Anyone who works with original documents will testify to the merits of this sentiment.

The writer, Prof. Elisa New, recognizes that “We no longer live in a world with much handwriting..” She stresses that, in looking at the originals, “Dickinson’s poems work as visual, as well as verbal, art.” To this end, the site she highly recommends is the Emily Dickinson Archive: An Open-Access Website for the Manuscripts of Emily Dickinson.

By eschewing the printed word, we readers “can read each poem in her distinctive handwriting, with distinctive punctuation.” No doubt, reading the manuscripts provides a workout! But a satisfactory struggle that brings the reader that much closer to the composer.

“Will you let me add a few Jasmin in a few Days?” Emily Dickinson, poem to Sarah Tuckerman [Amherst Manuscript #32; possibly, handwriting of 1880]


When you BROWSE IMAGES by COLLECTION, you will realize just how VAST this online images project is. Amherst College’s collection alone contains over 1660 images. They have been collated from a “lucky” set of thirteen archives, including the Library of Congress (Washington DC) and the Morgan Library & Museum (New York City). When you click on the cross (+) beside each listed site you will see the various manuscripts and be able to choose to see specific documents.

If to know a person is to experience what their hand put upon paper, then I am lucky with my Smith & Gosling research; I have a collection of letters as well as images. I can TOUCH what they have touched, written, read, drawn, and preserved.

****

I first began to read ABOUT Emily Dickinson when, in a hospital waiting room, I read a review of the then-just-published biography by Julie Dobrow, After Emily (2018). Dobrow’s research into the life of Mabel Loomis Todd fascinated me, even as it made me intensely dislike the main person (along with Dickinson’s philandering brother, Austin Dickinson). The book also gave me a “second sister” to wish for more information about: sister-in-law Sue Dickinson, in addition to Lavinia Dickinson. It was a great “grief” not to be able to visit Austin and Sue’s home, Evergreens, when I visited the Dickinson Homestead in December of 2022. Both properties, which sit side-by-side on a lovely plot of land in downtown Amherst, Massachusetts, are now open, much-needed renovations having taken place during the covid shut-down.

I now have a good “collection” of Dickinson books, but not the poetry. Dickinson’s LETTERS, my initial interest, needed so much extratextual knowledge, that I had to leave off reading those (in the one-volume book condensed from the three-volume set by Johnson). I remember when this book arrived in the mail! Buttery-soft-fabric-encased hardcover, complete with dust jacket. It was exquisite. “They don’t make them like they used to do!”

Most of my collection are biographical – for that is what intrigues me the most. Like Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson wrote and lived in small village/town. Unlike Jane Austen, Dickinson published very little. Austen, on the other hand, worked hard to get her novels into print. Dickinson could rely on some amount of security, in the family home, with family funds. Austen did not always have the extreme generosity of family, although the female nucleus of her immediate circle did provide the security required for any writer to thrive.

The Dickinsons had their ups and downs, but, as the two house museums attest, they did have a place to call their own. Fans and artists can actually “rent” Emily’s bedroom for some useful “me time.” These are called “Studio Sessions.” I recall reading about this program in one of the (email) newsletters. Wouldn’t Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton gain significant funding with such a scheme!

Enjoy the manuscripts, and I will append in the COMMENTS section a list of my Dickinson books for anyone interested.

History of the World (seen thru J.J. Heath-Caldwell’s Library)

A new book – which is also available as a *free* PDF:

History of the World
(seen through my family library)
J.J. Heath-Caldwell

A recent (January 2024) comment to this blog announced that a family history website I had blogged about previously in 2023 now had a book (limited print-run of 100 copies) associated with it. Thanks, J.J. Heath-Caldwell, for sharing the information! (and for finding my blog post….)

J.J. had long wished to write – but (I can imagine!) where does one start and how to narrow the focus when there is just SO MUCH information, a cottage full of items, so many historical people and great historical detail?

J.J. tells us:

“After further thought, I decided to write a combination of the following:

  1. Some history of Linley Wood, the Caldwell family home.
  2. Information about the books in the library and the subjects covered within.
  3. Short biographies of my ancestors and stories about some of their friends.
  4. A light overview of some of the big events that were happening at the time.

Adding this altogether gives a history of the world, as seen through the books in my family library.  This is really a window into the past and a history of civilization.”

The index of chapters is as follows:

  1. The Fun of Hunting for Historical Information
  2. Early Libraries
  3. The Caldwell family and their Library at Linley Wood (1789 to 1949)
  4. Who were the early Caldwells?
  5. History of the World: Early Civilizations (before AD 600)
  6. History of the World: After the Roman Empire (600-1400)
  7. History of the World: Exploration and Reformation (1400-1660)
  8. History of the World: The Restoration and the Glorious Revolution (1660-1700)
  9. History of the World: How to Make Serious Money (1700-1789)
  10. History of the World: The French Revolution and the Rise of the British Empire (1789-1815)
  11. History of the World: After the Napoleonic Wars (1815-1837)
  12. History of the World: Early Victorian Era (1837-1860)
  13. History of the World: Later Victorian Era (1860-1901)
  14. History of the World: Post Victorian Era (1901 to 1949)
  15. The End of the Linley Wood Estate: 1949

Acknowledgements
Appendix 1: Inventory Abbreviations
Appendix 2: A Walk Through the Interior of Linley Wood as it probably was in 1925
Appendix 3: Family Trees

I invite you to take a look yourself: jjhc.info/history-of-the-world

J.J.’s visit with Aunt Pat will have me trying her combination of Earl Grey & Lapsang Souchong! But: how it must have felt to be in contact – and to see all her “family relics”. Talk about “priceless”! As a bit of a bibliophile myself, I can readily connect with someone who wishes to regather books from past family libraries…. Jane Austen’s Godmersham estate has a similar task (though they seek to call home their “Godmersham lost sheep” – the actual volumes that used to grace Godmersham Library).

And don’t forget J.J. Heath-Caldwell’s original website, filled with information drawn from the family papers and portraits.

FIVE Schuyler Sisters

note: this continues the blog post Schuyler Biography; call it part II

I did manage – after EIGHT years – to visit the Schuyler Mansion in Albany! My interest dates back to 2015, when in Weehawken, New Jersey – staying at an AirBnB in order to do research at NYU and the Morgan Library. My father, who had time to kill during the day, discovered the sign post that related the history of the nearby dueling grounds – and the deaths of both Philip Hamilton and his father Alexander Hamilton. I was not au courant enough to seek out Broadway productions that week…

So the visit to Albany and the Schuyler Mansion was a LONG time in coming. By the way: the site needs to augment their giftwares! I had expected a large gift shop, filled with books (especially). REALLY miss not being able to buy a guide book to the property — or even a mix of ALL Schuyler-related properties:

The “Historic Houses from Hamilton” site includes a link to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has on display “Door from the Great Hall of Van Rensselaer Manor House, Albany, New York” (related to “Peggy”)

I will say, I REALLY had wanted to hear about the Women of the Schuyler Mansion. For about ten minutes, I was the only person signed up for this special-topic tour. Then a couple joined us. For a few rooms, the tour kept to the topic. It was SO INTENSELY INTERESTING to hear about the correspondence – of Mrs. Schuyler, of Angelica Schuyler Church. QUITE up my alley – and quite revelatory as to these real-life women.

Alas, the others had specific questions that rather kept up a slightly different focus, and the tour rather bowed to their interests. In rooms where we might have been introduced to Cornelia Schuyler and Caty Schuyler — the two youngest sisters – only my questions about the sitters in portraits lining the walls brought forth their later histories.

Cornelia Schuyler Morton (left) and Caty Schuyler Malcolm Cochrane

  • note a related book for Caty: A God-Child of Washington, by Katharine Schuyler Baxter (1897). Note the LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
  • New York State Museum has short biographies: Cornelia; Caty

What a truly fascinating set of women! Highly educated, “plugged in” to society and politics, witty, beautiful.

So I’ve been looking for them, and more information about them all. I still recommend the biography of their mother, Catharine (Van Renssalaer) Schuyler (despite Humphreys spelling her first name Catherine, which evidently should be Catharine), as mentioned in my last blog post. The docent mentioned ONE existing letter for Mrs. Schuyler – and she probably used an initial for her first name, but it would be so nice to know for sure how SHE spelled her name.

  • I’ve actually had to bow to “current” spelling in the name of James Edward Austen Leigh, the husband of my Two Teens in the Time of Austen primary focus, Emma Smith. Edward signed many letters and NONE have hyphens, so _I_ do NOT use them. But someone obviously began to hyphenate and “tradition” often spells his name, James-Edward Austen-Leigh. A name is a very personal thing, indeed!

So I will include, as a bit of an addendum, some links to help readers add to their knowledge of the FIVE Schuyler Sisters.

Catherine Schuyler biography (1897)

A few weeks ago, I visited a local(-ish) Revolutionary War related house museum: The DAR John Strong Mansion Museum, in Addison, Vermont. It was a revelation! To walk through rooms filled with furniture and bric-a-brac; letters, documents, and portraits on the walls; ephemera laid out on tables; fabulous architecture, refurbishment, and backstory. I was transported back in time, a guest entertained by the Strongs.

MUCH farther away (about four hours’ drive, each way) is a house museum still on my bucket list: The Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, near Albany, New York. The mansion was the home of General Philip J. Schuyler and his wife Catherine (or Catharine?) Van Rensselaer. It was here that their daughter Elizabeth Schuyler married Alexander Hamilton in 1780.

Of course it is the women of the Schuyler family that interest me.

Recently, I was surprised to see mention made of Angelica Schuyler and the (second-hand) story of her running off with her beau in the book The Baroness and the General (Louise Hall Tharp; 1962) purchased oh-ever-so-long-ago and only now being read with more interest. From John Strong’s Vermont Mansion to Baroness (Frederika Charlotte Luise) Riedesel to the Schuyler Mansion in Albany – three easy steps.

But it was coming across a 2020 biography of Catherine Schuyler, the patriot and matriarch of this younger generation, that I spotted WHY readers were complaining about the print (in book and kindle versions): it was a REPRINT of an 1897 book! Its author with ties to the (American) Civil War.

I sought out a scan of the ORIGINAL printing. It would be great if, when publishers “take” old books, that they update them – new typesetting; correct and/or enlarge upon the subject. I suspect the new biography is merely a “scanned” copy, sold as if a living author has worked on it.

Mary Gay Humphreys‘ biography of Catherine Schuyler was published (1897) as part of the series, WOMEN OF COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. From the Preface:

“The period embraced within the years of Catherine Schuyler’s life is the most exciting in American History.”

A later (1968) reprint, scanned from Stanford University’s collection, lists further volumes in the series; the full set of six include, in addition to Catherine Schuyler:

Happy Reading! I’m diving in as soon as I stop typing…

Jane Hicks (Bournemouth), 1843-1844 Diary (online)

While looking for something TOTALLY different, I came across a diary transcription – complete with annotations, online.

Jane Hicks, born Brown, began this diary soon after the birth of her first child, a son named Dale. Its first entry takes place on March 18, 1843. This archive (see also, Christchurch History Society) has entitled the diary,

The Journal of Mrs. Jane Hicks, of Muccleshell, Holdenhurst, Parish of Christchurch, County of Southamptonshire, March 1843 – October 1844.

Jane Brown married Richard Hicks, 31 May 1842. Jane was born in 1814 and lived until 1896! The accompanying website, the “Jane Hicks’s Journal Gallery,” with information on people and places, has a photograph of Jane and her son Dale. Some rather disconcerting entries, where little Dale is concerned, especially one that states, “Let the baby fall…” (Sept 4)

Check out the double-page image of Jane’s diary in order to see her handwriting!

“Muccleshell” is now part of Throop – in the area of present-day BOURNEMOUTH (Dorsetshire) and called “Bourne” in the diary. The “Gallery” has several maps to help you locate the villages. Nice photos, too.

The information is quite densely packed with text; the journal itself is nicely differentiated, entry and annotation (text in italics). There is a family tree and much information about the Hicks family. Of great interest is the “history” of the diary itself:

“Jane took her diary with her to Australia, and it was her descendants there who preserved it as a family heirloom. Two of these have since written privately-printed family-history books covering Richard and Jane’s life there, one by Val Hicks, and one by Maureen Mannion. It was Maureen who in 1986 sent a photocopy of the diary to Mary Baldwin, a Hampshire genealogist, for further research. This was the basis of an article in the Bournemouth Echo 15 April 1993, and a March 1994 feature by Mary in Dorset Life magazine, “Mrs Dale Hicks Diary.” Mary also sent a copy of the handwritten journal to Michael Stead of Bournemouth Borough Council, who in December 1999 typed it out and began adding annotations to clarify its cryptic entries. Michael’s typed transcript of the handwritten diary text, along with the revised and expanded annotations reproduced above in italics, was published online in the run-up to the town’s 2010 bicentenary, with new and amended info published online on an ongoing basis [the current edition is dated 2016]. Jane Hicks’s journal remains of interest as one of the few local first-hand accounts known for this early period of the town’s history, when it was still known as ‘Bourne.'”

A highly-recommended daily diary of a wife and mother, a marriage, a village, in 1840s Britain.

James Caldwell Diaries & Letters

It was back in November 2022, after listening to the Anne Lister Research Summit presentation of “Mariana, Marriage & (No) Money,” by Shantel Smith, that I learned of Lawton- and Belcombe-related comments among the CALDWELL family diaries (there are letters too). Specifically, the number of “sightings” of Mariana Lawton and visits by the Lawtons or to Lawton Hall.

Two websites have items relating to JAMES CALDWELL (1759-1838) and his daughter ANNE MARSH CALDWELL (1791-1874). The family home, Linley Wood, was in TALKE, Staffordshire.

Another family in Staffordshire quickly sprang to mind: the Tollets of Betley Hall. I love the books edited by Mavis E. Smith (the last edited with her husband Peter Smith):

Sure enough, the Caldwells letters and diaries have LOTS of mentions of the Tollets of Betley Hall! See, for instance, this page of Caldwell diary entries, which covers the 1830s-era of the Tollet journal and letters books. Search [control-f] for Tollet.

James Caldwell’s diary – for 1816 – also mentions “Miss Lister,” who – of course, is Anne Lister of Shibden Hall. The visit took place a month after Mariana’s marriage to Charles Lawton; in company with Mariana (Mrs. C. Lawton) was “Miss Lister” and “Miss Belcombe” (“Nantz” Belcombe, Mariana’s eldest unmarried sister).

Another familiar familial name is Wedgwood – yes, the famous pottery family. Great friends with the Tollets and the Caldwells.

The main page of LINKS to the voluminous Caldwell material, and very useful to bookmark, is: jjhc.info/caldwellnotes

  • Read the strong biography of James Caldwell, with accompanying photographs of family & items, to understand the man behind the James Caldwell diaries (covering, especially, the 1790s through to his death in 1838)

Only now am I lookimg through the material. It makes for exciting reading, just to see the DAILY goings-on of a “landed” gentry family.

Caldwell material also is posted on Michael Heath-Caldwell’s site. More about the second site, later. And I still need to look at the daughters’ diaries and the family letters. So much material, generously posted online. Volunteer opportunities available, in helping to transcribe!

 

Lavinia Dickinson’s 1851 Diary

See the 1851 Diary written by Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, in images of the manuscript, at Harvard:

Yesterday, I was searching (yet again) for any diaries written by FANNY (Smith) Seymour (1803-1871) (see my website TWO TEENS IN THE TIME OF AUSTEN); what I came up with was a site offering links to Digitized Diaries – on The Diary Index.

There are many names I recognize; many I wish to further explore.

High on the list is this manuscript by Emily Dickinson’s sister. I don’t know about you, but I find the SISTERS of Jane Austen [Cassandra Austen] and Emily Dickinson [Lavinia Dickinson] AS compelling as their more famous siblings.

Three books, on my bookshelves, that peek into the Dickinsons’ household:

  • After Emily, by Julie Dobrow (non-fiction) [2018]
  • Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, by Marta McDowell (non-fiction) [2019]
  • Emily’s House, by Amy Belding Brown (fiction) [2021]

I picked a page of Labinia’s diary at random, and have no experience of reading her handwriting; however, I am totally intrigued by an entry (for January 15th) which seemed a bit more legible:

“Wrote to Eliza [Elisa?] Coleman.
Went to ride with Mr [Chapin?],
I reverance [sic] him no longer”

I want to KNOW MORE!

But I’m not finding much out there (what am I missing??) that deals with Lavinia’s diary.

There is a 1973 Master’s Thesis by JANICE SPRADLEY McCARTHY, which documents “The Influence of Lavinia Dickinson and Susan Dickinson on Emily Dickinson.”

There is the Dickinson Museum’s biography of Lavinia Dickinson.

There is Desirée Henderson’s chapter in The New Emily Dickinson Studies entitled “Dickinson and the Diary“, which brings up some interesting points.

What I’d really have loved to find is a transcription of Lavinia Dickinson’s 1851 Diary. Alas…

The Diary of Thomas Turner, 1754-1765

I’ve long known about the publication of Thomas Turner‘s diary. I’ve skirted his part of Sussex. though never visited East Hoathly.

Finally, about a month ago, I decided, at the drop of a hat, to order a copy of the book, as edited by David Vaisey. While waiting for the mail to deliver, I had a look around the internet – and turned up a couple of pleasant surprises.

One of the biggest surprises was to find that Thomas Turner’s papers are no longer in the U.K.! They reside in the archives of Yale. I assumed the diaries and other pertinent papers were at The Keep, the Sussex county archive.

For a taste of the diary, check out “The Trials of Thomas Turner” on HISTORIES.

One of the most delightful finds: “The World of Thomas Turner” featured on CAUGHT BY THE RIVER. The retelling is witty, but the cartoons are a true delight. The link will bring you to the full EIGHT columns about Turner and his diary-life.

Found, also, an announcement that two academics were at work on a new scholarly edition of Turner’s diary! Alas, the Thomas Turner website has had little _recent_ updating — for instance, the book is described as coming out in 2020 or 2021; one year is past, and the other is quickly heading for the door. So not quite sure WHERE the project stands.

In the meanwhile, there are quantities of copies of Vaisey’s thick extraction from the existing diaries.

 

Two Old Books: Thomas Creevey & Sydney Smith

Although I have used the Lord Byron and His Times (LBT) website with some frequency, it was only lately that it dawned on me to include here two books which the site searches and displays “mentions” of people one may be searching:

There are MANY other documents, which may be found on the GENERAL INDEXES page (“Documents by Date“).

There is another Creevey book beyond Maxwell’s 2-volume edition. LONG ago I had purchased a paperback copy of John Gore’s The Creevey Papers. This later book does not, for the most part, duplicate information and letters from Maxwell’s edition. It also induced me to search for the earlier book, Maxwell’s, for more Creevey.

Of the two book on LBT:

Like Croker, Thomas Creevey was an inveterate writer about the machinations of the times in which he lived. David Hill Radcliffe has included a length “introduction” to the publication.

Radcliffe has also written a most useful introduction – and warning! – about Lady Holland’s work. Some letters went astray (or were destroyed), meaning that the two-volume edition of Sydney Smith letters, edited by Newell C. Smith (OUP, 1953), sometimes had to resort to using what they found in the Holland/Austin edition – despite known “errors” and conflations. Still, it is good to have access to this early biography and letters edition.

Mention must be made of Alan Bell‘s “continuation” of the Sydney Smith letters project. Bell had worked towards a new, more complete, edition of the Smith Letters; unfortunately, publication fell through. The vast amount of work Bell undertook in transcribing what he had located exists, and the typescripts are available (PDFs) on the Sydney Smith Association website.

A BONUS: Click on UNPUBLISHED LETTERS, and “1805” (or, click the above image) to see a letter from my own archive of 19th century manuscript material. Posted from Ledbury (in Herefordshire) to John Murray, Wimpole Street, London, the letter mentions others who, with Smith, founded The Edinburgh Review (in 1802). This affecting letter speaks of the recent death of Jeffrey’s wife, and briefly mentions Brougham. Email me should you wish a transcription.

 

Added some Online Books

I have a hefty number of FILES – saved PDFs that are old books, scanned from the likes of google.books or Archive.org. Must admit that there are so many, they reside in a couple of places (must do a bit of housekeeping…); so, at times, I’m never sure if I’ve merely looked through a book online OR if I have downloaded it. I have learned to DOWNLOAD, because once a “publish on demand” kind of book appears, the original scans seem more difficult to locate (and sometimes disappear).

(Do you think these “publishers” don’t just download the images – print it into a book – and sell it for a cost that often well exceeds the cost of an original printing found in the used-book market?)

Anyway….

I’ve begun to add a few books – online LINKS – to the page “A Little List“. This page has a links to used bookstores – online shops – book titles from MY LIBRARY – and now links to Online Books. These books will tend to be:

  1. Old Books (often 19th century; sometimes early 20th century)
  2. Letters – Diaries – Biography, or a combination of the three

I will keep sites that offer ONLINE primary material under the pages Diaries online and Letters online. Sites like these that offer, (especially), digital images of their holdings are pretty special! Some offer, in addition, transcriptions of their images; a few will offer the transcriptions only, but in “fully transcribed” editions – often with notes and images. Many are labors of love by an interested independent scholar; most represent the work of larger repositories.

There will be those sites that offer transcriptions of old publications, which, due to the volume of material, is “as good as it gets” at the moment. I can think of the Letters of Sir Walter Scott, or the diaries of John Waldie.

Online books listed, on the other hand, are often the publications of later relatives and are often the closest we (the general audience) will ever get to the original materials – most of which probably remain in family (private) hands.

The books I’ve so far “attached” to this “A Little List” page are:

  • Letters of Harriet, Countess Granville (2 volumes)
  • Some Records of the Later Life of Harriet, Countess Granville
  • Thackeray and His Daughter: the Letters and Journals of Anne Thackeray Ritchie
  • The Journal of the Hon. Henry Edward Fox