Two Lies and a Truth

A footnote in Millicent Todd Bingham’s “Ancestors’ Brocades” prompted my recent series of posts.  Bingham’s mother, Mabel Loomis Todd, had sent a poem to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Bingham’s note about that poem said this:

“The sonnet, written by LeRoy Phillips of the class of 1892 at Amherst College, was published in the Amherst Literary Monthly, June 1891, and again in The New England Magazine, November, 1891…Two other poems to Emily appeared that same year:  G. E. Meredith, “The Poems of Emily Dickinson,” The Literary World, Boston, April 11, 1891; and Mary Elwell Storrs, “Emily Dickinson, 1830 – 1886,” The Springfield Republican, May 22, 1891.”

Below:  Millicent Todd Bingham's Ancestors' Brocades and footnote number 7 and page 131.

My latest posts then focused on those three poems.  I found Phillips’ sonnet in the June 1891 Amherst Literary Monthly and discussed it (HERE).  I found Meredith’s poem in the April 1891 The Literary World and discussed it (HERE). However, I could not find Storrs’ poem in May 1891 Springfield Republican.  I found the text of her poem, but I could not find it in its original source, and I discussed the poem HERE and HERE.

Sooo…here’s the first “lie” – and the one “truth” –both  over confusion about the date of publication of Storrs’ poem:

Bingham’s note clearly states that Storrs' poem was printed in the May 22, 1891, edition of The Springfield Republican.  I found a digitized copy of that issue on the Library of Congress’ website, and I read, reread, and reread it again. Storrs’ poem is not there.  I checked all of the May 1891 editions to no avail.  I even checked all of the April and June editions.  Nothing.
I continued to explore this, and just yesterday I found this note about Storrs’ work in Emily Dickinson’s Reception in the 1890s, edited by Willis J. Buckingham: “Mary Elwell Storrs. ‘Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886.’ Springfield Sunday Republican, May 22, 1892, p. 2.”

Below:  Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s edited by Willis J. Buckingham.  See the note associated with number 362, the poem by Mary Elwell Storrs. 

Buckingham listed the date of publication as May 22, 1892 – not May 22, 1891, as stated by Bingham.  Alas, I have yet to find a digitized copy of that edition that I can access, but I suspect that is the true date.  I’ll keep looking for a digital copy, though, to confirm this.

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Here’s the second “lie,” surrounding my own confusion with the name of one of the poets:

Bingham’s footnote discussed these three works: LeRoy Phillips’ sonnet, G. E. Meredith’s poem, and Storrs' tribute to Dickinson.  When I got to the work by G. E. Meredith, I did find a copy of the work as published in The Literary World; however, since I was unfamiliar with Meredith, I went searching, and I found “G”eorge Meredith.  He was the only 19th-century poet named “Meredith” to be found, his name was “G”eorge, and his dates fit the narrative – so I wrote about Meredith and his confusing ode to Dickinson.  BUT – and here’s the second “lie” – Meredith didn’t write the poem.  At least, not this Meredith, not George Meredith. 

As I was exploring the first “lie,” i.e., the confusion with the date of publication of Storrs’ poem (discussed above), I happened upon “a list of poems to and about Emily Dickinson published in the last 100 years,” HERE. 

The list includes this entry: “Meredith, Gertrude Euphemia. ‘The Poems of Emily (Dickinson).’ Emily Dickinson's Reception in the 1890s: A Documentary History. Ed. Willis Buckingham. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 1989. 129.”

Sooo…it was NOT George Meredith who wrote that poem, it was GERTRUDE Meredith.  Gertrude Euphemia Meredith, to be exact.

I searched and searched for info on “Gertrude Euphemia Meredith,” but I came up empty. I sincerely apologize, though, to the spirit of George Meredith for the mix up.  When I first came across his name, I didn’t even notice that he had no middle initial, “E”!  Oops!
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So there you have it, “two lies and a truth.”