 | Somehow, New Yorkers always seem to know when my wife and I are coming for a visit, and following their delightful and extremely accurate welcome to the island of Manhattan (shown at the left), we experienced a few memorable highlights to our trip early on, including the peach margarita at Blue Maiz (on our first night) and the Tea Cake at Charlotte Patisserie (on our first morning). Then, following a stroll through Chelsea in the morning and lunch at our hotel at noon, I headed over to the Stephen A. Schwarzman building of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. The Rare Books and Manuscripts opened at one o’clock, and I got there right as they unlocked their doors. Below left: A 16 oz Patron Silver Peach Margarita on the rocks with salt; Below center: Charlotte Patisserie's Tea Cake -- like having a fancy candy bar for breakfast; Below rigt: A kid in a candy shop. |
 | |  |
I didn’t have an appointment, so the desk librarian told me I would have to take a number. I got number “1,” and in a matter of a few minutes, a reference librarian, Kyle, called me over to his desk.
I inquired about the 1924 edition of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, and that text was available for review (unlike the 1890 and 91 editions of Poems which are noted as “exhibition only”); however, Kyle explained that I would first have to register for a NYPL library card and give them time to retrieve the book. Therefore, I returned to the main reference desk, applied for the card, opted for the US semiquincentennial edition, and then explored the shelves in the Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room. Kyle had recommended that I return to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at 2:00 p.m., so that gave me about 30 minutes to check out the various Dickinson editions on the reading room’s shelves.
I inquired about the 1924 edition of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, and that text was available for review (unlike the 1890 and 91 editions of Poems which are noted as “exhibition only”); however, Kyle explained that I would first have to register for a NYPL library card and give them time to retrieve the book. Therefore, I returned to the main reference desk, applied for the card, opted for the US semiquincentennial edition, and then explored the shelves in the Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room. Kyle had recommended that I return to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at 2:00 p.m., so that gave me about 30 minutes to check out the various Dickinson editions on the reading room’s shelves.
 |  |   |
The first books I spotted were the three-volume Franklin Variorum (to the right in the first picture below). Interestingly, they were next to the “University of Virginia Edition of the Works of Stephen Crane.” Go Hoos!
 |  | |
The first book I thumbed through was Selected Poetry of Emily Dickinson Chosen by the New York Public Library, published by Doubleday in 1997. I loved the section titles in the book, including “The Poet’s Choice,” “The Miracle Year,” “Elegy,” and “Immortality.” I turned to “Because I could not stop for Death” first. It’s my “go to” poem when examining a book of Dickinson’s poetry. I check to see if the poem used is Dickinson’s original version – or Mabel Loomis Todd’s altered version.from 1890. In this case, it was Dickinson’s.
| |  |  |
Next, I picked up All Things Dickinson, An Encyclopedia of Emily Dickinson’s World, a two-volume set (A-H and I-Z) published in 2014.
Because I’d recently (HERE) learned that Mabel Loomis Todd’s father, Eben Jenks Loomis, had edited at least one of Dickinson’s poems for publication in the first edition of Dickinson’s poetry, “It will be Summer – eventually” (he omitted the first stanza and made modifications to the second and third stanzas) – and since I’d also published recent posts about letters from Dickinson to Loomis in the fall of 1885 and winter of 1886 (HERE) – I thought I would check to see what the two-volume encyclopedia had to say about old Mr. Loomis; however, nothing was there!
Oops – seems that the “All Things Dickinson” tomes are really “Most Things Dickinson.”
Below right: Click the image to enlarge -- the "L" entries for the encyclopedia set, and alas, poor Eben Loomis is not listed.
Because I’d recently (HERE) learned that Mabel Loomis Todd’s father, Eben Jenks Loomis, had edited at least one of Dickinson’s poems for publication in the first edition of Dickinson’s poetry, “It will be Summer – eventually” (he omitted the first stanza and made modifications to the second and third stanzas) – and since I’d also published recent posts about letters from Dickinson to Loomis in the fall of 1885 and winter of 1886 (HERE) – I thought I would check to see what the two-volume encyclopedia had to say about old Mr. Loomis; however, nothing was there!
Oops – seems that the “All Things Dickinson” tomes are really “Most Things Dickinson.”
Below right: Click the image to enlarge -- the "L" entries for the encyclopedia set, and alas, poor Eben Loomis is not listed.
 |  |
Next up: Concordance to the Poems of Emily Dickinson, published in 1978 -- but I’ll get to this book tomorrow! More pics related to today’s post are on my "Dial 'Em' for Emily" travelogue, HERE.
07.18.2026: INTRODUCTORY PLOG POST ABOUT "DIAL 'EM' FOR EMILY," CLICK HERE.
RSS Feed
