Many days I share with my wife the subject of my daily Dickinson posts. She has little interest, but she tolerates my obsession. It keeps me off the streets, and – LOL – the “other woman” in my life is deceased, so the “affair” has been completely one-sided.
Anyway, one day recently, she asked if Mable Loomis Todd had made any money from her work as the first editor of Dickinson’s poems, and yes, she did – but Dickinson’s sister Lavinia actually received all the royalty payments. Todd received whatever Lavinia Dickinson chose to pay her for her work.
Here’s the story surrounding the early, posthumous publications of Dickinson’s poetry:
Emily died in 1886. Lavinia discovered the trove of poems in her room. She initially turned to her sister-in-law Susan to manage the editing and to arrange for publication. However, Lavinia thought Susan was moving much too slowly, so she turned to Mabel Loomis Todd for help. Todd was the wife of an Amherst College astronomy professor David Peck Todd and the mistress of Austin Dickinson, Susan’s husband. Needless to say, the already sour relationship between Susan and Mabel turned further south, plus Susan grew angry with Lavinia for approaching Mabel for help. Todd got the job done, though, and the first collection of poems was published in November 1890.
Todd worked with Dickinson's mentor and friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson to prepare the first volume of poems, and together they worked to ready a second volume in the series in 1891.
Check out this entry from Todd’s journal dated June 16, 1891:
It is ninety in the shade this morning. ... I have looked over some more of Emily’s poems, although all the selection has been made for the second volume. The success of the first volume is, I suppose, really phenomenal for poetry. The seventh edition is either preparing or already out this week — I have not heard from Mr. Niles for two or three weeks. And separate poems I have sent to St. Nicholas, the Independent, Life, The Christian Register, and the Youth's Companion, where they have been accepted with avidity and paid for. Vinnie has reaped a harvest, and she will have another large check July first from the publisher. Mr. Niles is very gentlemanly and generous. The second volume will appear October first.
With all her delight and satisfaction in the success and appreciation of the book, poor Vinnie has had a great deal of pain through Susan. Neither she nor Mattie (Susan’s daughter Martha, Emily’s niece) has spoken to her since last September when they first learned of the coming volume. And Susan sent two poems which she had of Emily’s to the Independent, and kept the money for them. . . . The "great big, black Mogul” has also crowned her atrocities by telling various people (so that it is current gossip everywhere) that Emily bequeathed all her writings to her; that Vinnie borrowed the poems, had them surreptitiously copied and published — and she is trying to gain sympathy for this supposed wrongl
It is a miserable business. . . .”
Todd’s daughter Millicent Todd Bingham reported in her book “Ancestors’ Brocades, “Lavinia’s suffering at the hands of her sister-in-law was a permanent if intermittent state.”
Anyway, one day recently, she asked if Mable Loomis Todd had made any money from her work as the first editor of Dickinson’s poems, and yes, she did – but Dickinson’s sister Lavinia actually received all the royalty payments. Todd received whatever Lavinia Dickinson chose to pay her for her work.
Here’s the story surrounding the early, posthumous publications of Dickinson’s poetry:
Emily died in 1886. Lavinia discovered the trove of poems in her room. She initially turned to her sister-in-law Susan to manage the editing and to arrange for publication. However, Lavinia thought Susan was moving much too slowly, so she turned to Mabel Loomis Todd for help. Todd was the wife of an Amherst College astronomy professor David Peck Todd and the mistress of Austin Dickinson, Susan’s husband. Needless to say, the already sour relationship between Susan and Mabel turned further south, plus Susan grew angry with Lavinia for approaching Mabel for help. Todd got the job done, though, and the first collection of poems was published in November 1890.
Todd worked with Dickinson's mentor and friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson to prepare the first volume of poems, and together they worked to ready a second volume in the series in 1891.
Check out this entry from Todd’s journal dated June 16, 1891:
It is ninety in the shade this morning. ... I have looked over some more of Emily’s poems, although all the selection has been made for the second volume. The success of the first volume is, I suppose, really phenomenal for poetry. The seventh edition is either preparing or already out this week — I have not heard from Mr. Niles for two or three weeks. And separate poems I have sent to St. Nicholas, the Independent, Life, The Christian Register, and the Youth's Companion, where they have been accepted with avidity and paid for. Vinnie has reaped a harvest, and she will have another large check July first from the publisher. Mr. Niles is very gentlemanly and generous. The second volume will appear October first.
With all her delight and satisfaction in the success and appreciation of the book, poor Vinnie has had a great deal of pain through Susan. Neither she nor Mattie (Susan’s daughter Martha, Emily’s niece) has spoken to her since last September when they first learned of the coming volume. And Susan sent two poems which she had of Emily’s to the Independent, and kept the money for them. . . . The "great big, black Mogul” has also crowned her atrocities by telling various people (so that it is current gossip everywhere) that Emily bequeathed all her writings to her; that Vinnie borrowed the poems, had them surreptitiously copied and published — and she is trying to gain sympathy for this supposed wrongl
It is a miserable business. . . .”
Todd’s daughter Millicent Todd Bingham reported in her book “Ancestors’ Brocades, “Lavinia’s suffering at the hands of her sister-in-law was a permanent if intermittent state.”
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