Details
DICKINSON, EMILY. Autograph letter signed ("Emily"), to Mrs. Samuel E. Mack, n.p., n.d. [Amherst, autumn 1884]. 2 1/2 pages, 8vo, in pencil, written on pages 1 and 3 of a four-page sheet and the recto of a single leaf, very faint stain at top of page 1, a neat ink transcription of the letter on verso of page 3, otherwise in very good condition.
"AFTER THE GREAT INTRUSION OF DEATH...EACH [FRIEND] THAT REMAINS HAS A SPECIAL PRICELESSNESS"
Apparently Mrs. Mack's efforts to see Emily proved successful, and Emily expresses her pleasure in the visit, quoting a poem of Emily Brontë, "Last Lines," probably from memory. "It was very dear to see Mrs. Mack. A friend is a solemnity and after the great intrusion of Death, each one that remains has a special pricelessness besides the mortal worth -- I hope you may live while we live, and then with loving selfishness consent that you should go --
"Said that marvellous Emily Brontë
Though Earth and Man were gone
And suns and Universes ceased to be
And thou wert left alone,
Every Existence would Exist in thee -
Tenderly, Emily--"
Published in Letters, ed T.H. Johnson, 940, noting that Dickinson quoted the same poem of Emily Brontë in a letter to another friend, Maria Whitney (Johnson 948) and that the word ceased in the second line of the poem is actually cease.
[With:]
DICKINSON, LAVINIA Emily's sister. Autograph letter signed to Professor Mack (spouse of Mrs. Mack), Amherst, n.d. [envelope postmarked 17 February 1891], 7 1/2 pages, 8vo, original postmarked envelope, lightly browned, "I hope you have read Emilie's poems published by Roberts Bros...I found (the week after her death) a box...containing...poems...the original manuscripts...There will be another volume brought out before Xmas..."; DICKINSON, LAVINIA. Autograph postcard signed to the same, Amherst, 15 April [1891], 4 lines plus dateline and signature, soiled, asking about the arrival of a letter -- DICKINSON, EDWARD, Eily's brother. Two autograph letters signed by Edward Dickinson, both to Samuel E. Mack, Amherst, 25 April and 13 May 1863, together 6 pages, 8vo, soiled, the first regarding personal matters, family and friends, the second concerning financial matters; together 5 items. (5)
"AFTER THE GREAT INTRUSION OF DEATH...EACH [FRIEND] THAT REMAINS HAS A SPECIAL PRICELESSNESS"
Apparently Mrs. Mack's efforts to see Emily proved successful, and Emily expresses her pleasure in the visit, quoting a poem of Emily Brontë, "Last Lines," probably from memory. "It was very dear to see Mrs. Mack. A friend is a solemnity and after the great intrusion of Death, each one that remains has a special pricelessness besides the mortal worth -- I hope you may live while we live, and then with loving selfishness consent that you should go --
"Said that marvellous Emily Brontë
Though Earth and Man were gone
And suns and Universes ceased to be
And thou wert left alone,
Every Existence would Exist in thee -
Tenderly, Emily--"
Published in Letters, ed T.H. Johnson, 940, noting that Dickinson quoted the same poem of Emily Brontë in a letter to another friend, Maria Whitney (Johnson 948) and that the word ceased in the second line of the poem is actually cease.
[With:]
DICKINSON, LAVINIA Emily's sister. Autograph letter signed to Professor Mack (spouse of Mrs. Mack), Amherst, n.d. [envelope postmarked 17 February 1891], 7 1/2 pages, 8vo, original postmarked envelope, lightly browned, "I hope you have read Emilie's poems published by Roberts Bros...I found (the week after her death) a box...containing...poems...the original manuscripts...There will be another volume brought out before Xmas..."; DICKINSON, LAVINIA. Autograph postcard signed to the same, Amherst, 15 April [1891], 4 lines plus dateline and signature, soiled, asking about the arrival of a letter -- DICKINSON, EDWARD, Eily's brother. Two autograph letters signed by Edward Dickinson, both to Samuel E. Mack, Amherst, 25 April and 13 May 1863, together 6 pages, 8vo, soiled, the first regarding personal matters, family and friends, the second concerning financial matters; together 5 items. (5)