April 16, 1862: I took [Emily Dickinson's letter of the previous day] from the post office in Worcester, Mass., where I was then living. It was postmarked "Amherst," and it was in a handwriting so peculiar that it seemed as if the writer might have taken her first lessons by studying the famous fossil bird-tracks in the museum of that college town.
~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Yesterday I posted info related to Emily Dickinson’s handwriting – and how it changed over the years. Most scholars suggest that changes in Dickinson's handwriting may have corresponded to changes in her vision. However, I also found this: “others speculated that significant changes in her handwriting paralleled shifts in Dickinson's psychic equilibrium.”
Here’s an article I found that explores Dickinson’s handwriting, and it share various samples of her penmanship, HERE.
I’ve also posted two samples below. I picked two poems at random. The first is “Garlands for Queens may be” from 1858. The second is “Apparently with no surprise” from 1884. It’s difficult to make a thorough comparison, though, because I don’t have info related to the sizes of the papers – but you can definitely see a much neater and tighter script in the first sample (and notice in the second sample how she wrapped the final word "God" around to the side of the page).
~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Yesterday I posted info related to Emily Dickinson’s handwriting – and how it changed over the years. Most scholars suggest that changes in Dickinson's handwriting may have corresponded to changes in her vision. However, I also found this: “others speculated that significant changes in her handwriting paralleled shifts in Dickinson's psychic equilibrium.”
Here’s an article I found that explores Dickinson’s handwriting, and it share various samples of her penmanship, HERE.
I’ve also posted two samples below. I picked two poems at random. The first is “Garlands for Queens may be” from 1858. The second is “Apparently with no surprise” from 1884. It’s difficult to make a thorough comparison, though, because I don’t have info related to the sizes of the papers – but you can definitely see a much neater and tighter script in the first sample (and notice in the second sample how she wrapped the final word "God" around to the side of the page).
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