on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume 7 No. 2 A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service December 2003 Longfellow the Translator, LongfellowB in Translation enry Wadsworth Longfellow—as hope of be- Having mastered approximately ten Hboth a widely translated poet and a coming “as pro- modern and two ancient languages, Long- prolific translator—is one of the authors ficient as a fellow included in one of his very first pub- that Dartmouth English professor Colleen native,” accord- lished volumes, Outre-Mer [1833], transla- Boggs considers in her forthcoming book, ing to Boggs. tions of works from French and Spanish tentatively titled The American Translation and Because people which he wanted to make available to Eng- the Transatlantic Nation, 1790-1890. Boggs’s did not see the lish speakers. In 1845 he gathered many of study also examines Phillis Wheatley, value of study- his translations and grouped them by coun- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, ing languages try in his The Poets and Poetry of Europe. Walt Whitman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe for their literary “Translation in the 1840s was almost a and makes a seemingly ironic observation: interest, Long- group activity,” says Boggs. Longfellow While attempting to create a national lit- fellow tried to formed a translation club called the “Five of erature, these writers were fascinated by the justify to his Clubs”with Classics professor Cornelius Fel- Evangeline in French, 1896 study of foreign languages and literary father his desire ton and other friends who shared his inter- works in other languages. to study modern languages as potentially est in translating foreign literary works into Since universities only began to offer helpful in future business opportunities. English. They met for dinner and discussion languages other than Greek and Latin in the He became Bowdoin College’s first Pro- of each others’ translation projects. The early nineteenth century, Longfellow went fessor of Modern Languages in 1826 and “Dante Club” followed in the 1860s with the to Europe to study modern languages Harvard’s second Professor of Modern Lan- exclusive purpose of translating The Inferno. through tutors and immersion, with the guages in 1835, following GeorgeTicknor. (continued on page 4) The Longfellow Family’s Interest in Foreign Languages and Travel

re you studying French, or Spanish, “A now-a-days? If not, you should lose no time in commencing, for I assure you that, by every language you learn, a new world is opened before you,” Henry W. Longfellow advised his sisters in a letter from Italy on Sept. 1, 1828. “It is like being born again; and new ideas break upon the mind with all the freshness and delight with which we may suppose the first dawn of intellect to be accompanied.” Henry’s children, grandchildren, and other members of his extended family shared his love of languages and travel. They often went abroad together in large groups, and Henry saw to it that his chil- dren received foreign language instruction. Longfellows in Venice (l to r): Anne Thorp, Alice L., Erica Thorp, Lucia Barret, Mary King L., Waddy L., 1927 His wife Fanny wrote in her journal in Mabell Lowell, Hatty Spellman, Gerty games. Henrietta Dana Skinner, who was 1857 when her oldest daughter, Alice, was Hubbard and Lily Danforth.” [See photo schooled with the poet’s two younger seven years old: “Alice enjoys her school at on page 6.] daughters Edith and Anne Allegra, remi- Miss Brewer’s very much and learns rapidly. Henry’s daughters clearly relished learn- nisced in her book An Echo from Parnassus: She has a little French class twice a week of ing languages and incorporated them into (continued on page 6) 1 - New Attention to Charley’s “Japanese Room” VWX Friends of the Longfellow House Board of Directors Barclay Henderson, President Robert Mitchell, Clerk Gene A. Blumenreich, Treasurer Frances Ackerly Peter Ambler J.L. Bell Hans-Peter Biemann Polly Bryson Charlotte Cleveland Dick Dober Diana der Hovanessian Carol Johnson Linda Kime Layne Longfellow Heather Moulton Laura Nash Marilyn Richardson Lynne Spencer Susan Wood

Advisory Board Charley Longfellow’s “Japanese Room,” 1899, photo by J.J. Olsson & Co. Ruth Butler LeRoy Cragwell ith funds from Save America’s Trea- less atmosphere of her brother’s room as Diana Korzenik Wsures and the expertise of the oriental and exotic, ‘a Sleepy Hollow kind Richard Nylander Northeast Document Conservation Center of place…one loses all track of time and Stephen D. Pratt in Andover, Massachusetts, the 1870s neo- everything else out here.’” Marc Shell Greek wallpaper with urn-like designs and Charley may have gotten the idea of glu- Charles Sullivan Lowell A. Warren Jr. forty fan-shaped watercolors mounted on ing the fan-shaped paintings to the ceiling Eileen Woodford paper from Charley Longfellow’s “Jap- from teahouses he visited in Japan. The anese Room” have been restored and are images of nature, animals, and scenes from Newsletter Committee approaching their original glory. daily life were painted on paper in the 1850s Marilyn Richardson, Editor This is part of an ongoing effort to by a Japanese artist. Glenna Lang, Writer & Designer rehabilitate the renowned room. In 1874, Writing in his Poet’s Homes in 1877, R.H. J.L. Bell among the first followers of the soon-to- Stoddard made note of this room: “The James M. Shea be popular Japanese style, the poet’s son wall [ceiling] paper is of neutral tint, orna- opq Charley and his cousin Alexander Wads- mented with Japanese fans in groups of worth Longfellow Jr. (who became an twos and threes. The heathen gods frown National Park Service architect) decorated a sitting room adjacent at you, national arms are collected, tables Myra Harrison, Superintendent to Charley’s bedroom with objects Charley are heaped with Japanese books made on James M. Shea, Museum Manager had acquired during his recent travels in the principle of cat-stairs, and photographs Nancy Jones, Education and Visitor Services Japan. Fans, lanterns, incense burners, lac- of Japanese beauties, with button-hole Paul Blandford, Museum Educator quered cabinets and shelves, screens, sculp- mouths and long bright eyes, abound.” Anita Israel, Archives Specialist tures, prints, and scrolls filled the room In the 1980s, the thirty-six fan-shaped David Daly, Collections Manager that Longfellow guests often asked to see, mounted watercolors were removed from Planning & Communications C. Sue Rigney, even though it was on the more private sec- Liza Stearns, Education Specialist the ceiling because they were in need of Emo Dewitt, Horticulturalist ond floor. Sometimes guests donned the cleaning. This summer they were sent to Ed Bacigalupo, Chief of Maintenance kimonos kept in the room for tea services the Northeast Document Conservation Scott Fletcher, Facility Manager held by Charley. Center. Ten unmounted watercolors were Such a room at this time was highly previously treated by the Fogg Art Mu- Printed by Newprint Offset, Waltham, Mass. unusual. “Accordingly,” writes Sarah Heald seum conservation lab. The original Japan- in the Fall/Winter 2000 issue of Old-Time ese lacquered furniture from the room will New England, “it was the popular gathering be restored later this year. At present, the 1234 spot for his [Charley’s] sisters and cousins room serves as much-needed office space All images are from the Longfellow National Historic and their friends, who reveled in the won- for the National Park Service but may one Site collections, unless noted otherwise. drous, romantic aura of the room and its day be reassembled as the complete furnishings…; Edith described the time- “Japanese Room.” - 2 Interview with a Friend…Meet Anita Israel, Archivist Anita Israel is the archives specialist at the ing interests. Archaeology students were here Shipman. All that is invaluable to the land- Longfellow House. Since her arrival in 1999, researching what they found digging outside. scape architects working on the gardens now. she has presided over the cataloguing and Recently there have been people working on LH: What are some of the biggest sur- computerization of the House archives. We the history of steamships, the Civil War, the prises for researchers here? spoke with her in the refurbished archival Barbary Wars. Scholars have come from Ar- AI: (Laughs) They often get sidetracked center she calls her "den of antiquity." gentina and Japan. There's a Russian trans- because there's so much. One professor was Longfellow House:What first drew you lator who writes often with lots of questions working on Hiawatha. He scheduled one to this sort of work? for his work on Longfellow. An astronomer afternoon and discovered we had so much Anita Israel: I was giving tours at the was after information on Longfellow and the that he needed days instead. And the Orchard House in Concord, the home of the Harvard observatory, to give a few examples. George Washington materials are more ex- Alcotts. One day, reading a brochure in the LH: So you work more with documents tensive than people realize. staff room there for the Museum Studies than with objects? LH: Some other things in a typical day? program at Tufts University, I realized that's AI: When I first went into museum AI: I spend a lot of time e-mailing re- what I really wanted to do. I left my job as a work, I thought I wanted to work with searchers, answering questions, or making pharmacist and enrolled in the program. I objects. But when you start reading letters suggestions for further research. There is a have the distinction of being the first gradu- great demand for copies of our pho- ate of that program with a specialization in tographs. I recently sent 250 slides and also history museums—that was in 1992.I in- prints to Japan for the forthcoming Japan- terned at the Mass. Historical Society. ese translation of our book on Charles LH:That’s like being an intern on Mount Longfellow's twenty months in Japan. Olympus. What did you work on there? LH: And in your spare time? AI: I worked on the documentation and AI: Believe it or not, I go to muse- preservation of early American bank notes. ums—history museums and art museums. I washed them, pressed them, stored them It's all part of what I really love to do in mylar, and catalogued them in a com- —that's why I changed careers. I always puter database to make them accessible to notice how things are mounted, displayed. researchers. LH: What's the connection between the LH: Have such rescue missions been a interpretive staff and the archives? significant part of your work over time? AI: The more the interpreters learn, the AI: It's a big part of processing any ar- more informed their tours are. The interpre- chives and historic collections. Papers are tive staff here love to dig into the archives, folded and tearing along the creases and so to work up theme tours, and to learn first- forth. There's always a dimension of rescue. hand rather than just lead scripted tours. LH: What were some of those chal- and journals, you really get inside a person's LH: The cataloguing still goes on? lenges here when you first arrived? head, and that's why I really like archives. AI: We're hoping to be finished in 2005. AI: This collection had been kept pretty LH: There's so much on Longfellow Some of this material is on microfilm—so well, compared, say, to the work I did at himself, of course. How close can you get to we need a state of the art microfilm reader Ellis Island where the roof leaked and many his wife Fanny, given the material that's here? and printer to help preserve the resources. documents got moldy—that was terrible. AI: In recent years her letters and jour- LH: What do you think is the great sig- Things here were well cared for but often nals have been quite heavily used by nificance of this collection? dirty with coal dust. There were two huge researchers. She was intelligent, educated, AI: We have here the papers of an old furnaces right next to the collections and her letters are liberally sprinkled with extended family over almost three centuries. storage vault. But most papers were stored French phrases. She had a very discerning We can document the great and historic in that climate-controlled vault when I first eye for art. Once her children were born she events that took place here as well as the arrived; others were in different parts of the wrote about them more than about herself. small daily aspects of their lives. house. We looked in all the closets and LH: How do the archives relate to the LH: Do you use any skills from your drawers and nooks and crannies to see what objects in the house? previous career as a pharmacist? else should be put into that one storage AI: We have tremendous documentation AI: As a matter of fact I do! I often come vault. We started with textiles and moved on for the objects in the house back to when across references to medicines or treatments to works on paper and photographs. Now Nathan Appleton bought the house for that people in the house had, and I can rec- we have an entire room for archives, making Henry and Fanny. There are receipts made ognize and understand some of the old room for books to be stored in the vault. out to Nathan Appleton for Prof. Longfel- remedies they used. And, of course, I'm very LH: What are some of the interests of low. Lists of sofas, chairs, things for the new- interested in Andrew Craigie who lived here students and researchers who come here? lyweds. And right down to the twentieth and was the Apothecary General for Wash- AI: There is something here for every- century when Alice had the gardens done ington's troops. But, above all, my experience body; almost every subject under the sun. over. The receipts from the nurseries for all as a pharmacist has made it possible for me Longfellow knew so much about so many the plants were signed for by Mr. Gaffney, to read the most difficult handwriting in old things, and the family had such wide-rang- the gardener, and checked by Ellen Biddle documents—when no one else can. 3 - Longfellow the Translator and inTranslation (continued from page 1) Recognized in his time as a skilled trans- fellow his Portuguese translation of “King Ferdinand Freiligrath lator of foreign texts into English, Longfel- Robert of Sicily.” Longfellow received much low sought to preserve the character of the correspondence from Italy from individuals text and its construction in the original lan- wishing to translate his work. His poem “A guage, even if it meant sacrificing a more Psalm of Life” became the first American polished quality in English. Longfellow’s poem to be translated into Chinese. translation work and ability to read other But translations of Longfellow’s poems languages influenced his poetry. The Song of also appeared widely in his own country, Hiawatha’s unorthodox rhythm came from according to Boggs. In addition to an 1869 the Finnish poem “Kalevala,” which he read translation of Evangeline into German pub- both in its original and in a German transla- lished in Berlin, Longfellow had in his library tion by his good friend Ferdi- another translation of the same nand Freiligrath, a German poet poem published in Milwaukee similarly interested in translat- in 1879. Throughout the nine- ing literature [see sidebar]. teenth century there were re- Longfellow did not approve gions of the United States in of all foreign-language transla- which English was not the pri- tions of his work, but he was mary language. German, for delighted with those of Frei- instance, prevailed in parts of ligrath and his wife, who trans- Pennsylvania. Even in the areas lated many of his poems, in- where most people spoke Eng- Ferdinand Freiligrath [1810-76] cluding Hiawatha, into German. lish, foreign-language newspa- was a German poet who in degree of In his library Longfellow col- pers and books abounded. popularity and interest in transla- lected volumes containing Many German-Americans read tion was the German equivalent of translations of his own poetry From Longfellow’s library: Freiligrath’s translations of his close friend H.W. Longfellow. and often multiple versions in Der Deutsche Pionier Longfellow’s poems in the Ger- Considered in the mid-nineteenth [The German Pioneer], the same language. Evangeline, printed in Cincinnatti, 1872 man-language U.S. newspapers. century the second most popular for example, was translated Longfellow recognized and poet after Goethe, Freiligrath re- many times into French, German, and reveled in the thriving presence of other ceived an annual income for his Spanish because of its theme of exile. It languages around him and was said to go poetry from the King of Prussia. was especially popular in Latin America down to the docks to listen to the languages After writing poetry critical of the due to the recent revolutions there. spoken there by immigrants. He was also king and co-editing a newspaper Translation carried Longfellow’s poetry sympathetic to and “aware of the exiles and with Karl Marx, Freiligrath was into all regions of the world. With no inter- displacements caused by the European rev- forced into political exile. Longfel- national copyright laws until the 1890s, olutions of 1848,” says Boggs. low tried, without success, to help Longfellow’s poems were published in over Translation broadened the audience for his German friend come to the twenty languages and sold successfully Longfellow and other American writers, United States. abroad. Literary figures and dignitaries from while at the same time making them more Freiligrath translated many liter- many countries stopped by the House when “American.”Paradoxically, they became rec- ary works into German, including they visited the U.S. and returned home with ognized as distinctly American authors those of William Shakespeare and copies of the American bard’s poetry which because they were published abroad. “In a Victor Hugo. Often before publish- they proceeded to translate. After his visit, sense you became American by virtue of ing his translations of Longfellow’s Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II sent Long- being translated,” concludes Boggs. poems, Freiligrath submitted them to Longfellow and incorporated his friend’s suggestions into the final Excerpt from King Christian [Kong Christian Stod Ved Hoien Mast] version. On one such occasion, the Translated from Danish by Henry W. Longfellow, while visiting Copenhagen, Sept. 1835 German poet explained in a letter:

King Christian stood by the lofty mast Nils Juel gave heed to the tempest’s roar, “I have attempted as much as possible to In mist and smoke; Now is the hour! remain truthful to the original, and you will His sword was hammering so fast, He hoisted his blood-red flag once more, notice minor discrepancies only in very iso- Through Gothic helm and brain it passed; And smote upon the foe full sore, lated instances. I will, possibly in the next Then sank each hostile hulk and mast, And shouted loud, through the tempest’s roar, weeks, Germanize [verdeutschen] still others.” In mist and smoke. “Now is the hour!” “Fly!” shouted they, “fly, he who can! “Fly!” shouted they, “for shelter fly! —Freiligrath to Longfellow, Who braves of Denmark’s Christian Of Denmark’s Juel who can defy July 1842 The stroke?” The power?”

- 4 Longfellow’s Scandinavian Connection or her work on a dissertation entitled tall, thin man, with white hair standing out F“Alternative Ancestries: Rethinking in all directions like a brush. His eyes are Nation and the Usable Past in Antebellum always open, like a man who sees a ghost. America,” Patricia Roylance has been re- He is a very friendly, pleasant man, and searching how American writers and artists gives me lessons in Icelandic….” use the histories and cultures of other Scandinavian influences evidenced them- countries to discern American culture. She selves in Longfellow’s poetry. According to feels Henry W. Longfellow “is a fabulous Roylance, Evangeline has descriptions of New example of this,”and she is particularly fas- World scenery which are almost identical to cinated by Longfellow’s interest in Scandi- Swedish scenery in “Children of the Lord’s navian languages and literature. Supper,” his translation of a Swedish poem. In 1835 as a young professor at Harvard Roylance observes that this “says something University, Longfellow spent four or five about the primordial quality Longfellow months in Sweden and then a month in felt about both places.” He wrote verse Denmark in order to learn the languages about Scandinavian subjects such as “The and acquire books for Harvard in Swedish Saga of King Olaf.” and Danish—and many for himself. (By the Longfellow shared an enthusiasm about end of his life, he had 380 books on Scan- the Vikings in America with a number of dinavian language and culture in his library.) Drawing of H.W. Longfellow, age 28, his friends. His brother-in-law Thomas Perhaps his interest in Sweden began by Swedish artist Maria Rohl, 1835 Gold Appleton wrote about the Viking her- while traveling in Rome seven years earlier. is an easy language to read, but difficult to itage in Boston, and in 1839 Joshua Toulin There Henry Longfellow had befriended speak with correctness, owing to some Smith wrote a book called The Northmen of the young Swedish poet Karl Nicander and grammatical peculiarities. Its literature New England, proposing a theory that the through him met members of the “Swedish swarms with translations. Cooper and Irv- Vikings landed in New England, settled in colony,” including prominent sculptor ing are well known, most of their works Cambridge (where remains of Leif Erik- Johan Niklas Bystrom. Longfellow visited having been translated….” son’s house were thought to be found), and Bystrom while in Sweden, as well as schol- In 1837 Longfellow published his own then moved on to Rhode Island. ars, writers, librarians, and artists in their English translation of Frithiofs Saga, a re- This enthusiasm led to the “creation of studios. He had his portrait drawn, and telling of an old Swedish tale by Swedish a Viking mythology,” says Roylance, an purchased eighteen etchings by Swedish nationalist poet Essias Tegner.Apparently attempt to connect with European culture printmaker Carl Walhbom depicting scenes dissatisfied with another English transla- and tradition. “Americans had a sense of from Nordic mythology. tion of this poem, Longfellow had penned deficiency in comparison to European cul- In order to master the Swedish language, in the margins of his volume comments ture, and the Viking presence in America Longfellow engaged a tutor from the Uni- such as “Miserable translations are ye all,” gave them ‘classic ground,’ a term used by versity of Stockholm in exchange for Eng- “Bad,” “Worse,” and “Pooh.” In a letter to Joshua Toulin Smith.”In this vein, Longfel- lish lessons. He wrote in his journal in 1835: his friend George Washington Greene that low’s poem “The Skeleton in Armor” was “The Swedish language is soft and musical, year, he referred to Swedish and Danish as an ode to a Viking skeleton found in Mass- with an accent like the lowland Scotch. It “the new feathers in my cap.” achusetts, which is now thought to be that With his proficiency in Danish, Longfel- of a Native American. Longfellow felt a low translated “The Mother’s Ghost” from strong connection between North Ameri- Danish into English. He owned three Dan- can and Scandinavian identity. “There was ish translation of works of James Fenimore a link in [his] mind between Scandinavians Cooper. In Denmark Longfellow was not and Native Americans,” says Roylance. able to meet his favorite Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, because he was away on a European tour. Andersen’s stories Henry W. Longfellow, were popular in mid-nineteenth century in the North American Review, 1832: America. Longfellow sent Andersen a copy "We hold the study of languages, philosophi- of Evangeline, and in return Andersen sent cally pursued, to be one of the most important him a complete set of his works translated which can occupy the human mind. And we into English. A bas-relief of Andersen’s are borne out in this opinion, by the reflection portrait hangs in the back hall. that the elements of language lie deep among During his stay in Denmark, Longfel- the elements of thought:-that the one follows low also studied Icelandic and wrote in a the various fluctuations of the other; and that letter to his father at that time: “[Carl] the language of the nation is the external Rafn is a historian, and editor of old Ice- symbol of its character and its mind..." landic books, which he transcribes from the “Sigurlam vid nyckelsten,” by Carl Wahlbom, 1834 MSS. Of which the libraries are full,—a 5 - Longfellow House in the Media Kumiko Yamada’s Japanese translation and revised edition of Charles Appleton Longfellow: Twenty Months in Japan,1871-1873, edited by Christine Wallace Laidlaw, will be pub- lished this December with an additional 200 images (now a total of about 260) from the House’s historic photo collection. The translation will also have two new appen- dices: one by Mr. Keisho Ishiguro, collec- tor and specialist on Meiji photographs, and the other by Sebastian Dobson, expert on nineteenth-century Japanese photogra- phy, with his hypothesis of the identity of the photographer of Charles Longfellow’s “Ainu album,”a collection of photos he purchased in the 1870s of Ainu village Traveling inVenice in 1868 (left to right): Mary Greenleaf, Sam Longfellow, Alice Longfellow, H.W. Longfellow, scenes. Copies of the book will be for sale Thomas Gold Appleton, Ernest Longfellow, Hattie Spellman Longfellow, Anne Pierce. Seated: Edith & Anne L. at the Longfellow NHS. Longfellow Family’s Interest in Foreign Languages (continued from page 1) l Sirpa Salenius’s Set in Stone: Nineteenth-Cen- “We had drawn up strict rules for our Most of that time, I stayed in Moscow and tury American Authors in Florence [in English] sports, most of them, I think, invented by Leningrad; but I also made shorter visits to has just been published by Il Prato publish- Edie, for she was a born leader. One was various cities on the Volga, in the Ukraine, ing house in Padua, Italy. Salenius includes that we must give a shout of warning before in the Caucasus, and in Armenia.While liv- Longfellow as one of the authors who lived starting to coast from the upper terrace… ing in the Soviet Union, I wrote articles for in and wrote about Florence and for whom with the sole proviso that it must be of some the Russian newpapers, gave lectures in a commemorative plaque still hangs in the language other than English. Edie chose for schools and colleges, made speeches in the city. Available at www.ilprato.com herself ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense,’ which large opera houses and shorter addresses in l was not inappropriate under the circum- Russian, and gave international broadcasts Author Stephen Fox gathered some of the stances. Gertrude Horsford’s cry was ‘Veni, over the radio…. I also wrote for Ameri- material for his new book called Transat- vidi, vici!’ Another, I think it was Annie, who can magazines some sixty articles on vari- lantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the had taken the old knightly ballad, sung to ous aspects of Soviet culture. In these I Great Atlantic Steamships from Fanny Apple- the oldest tune in the world, ‘Malbrook s’en tried to bring a better understanding be- ton Longfellow’s letters and journals. Pub- va-t-en guerre, Mironton ton-ton-Miron- tween America and Russia.” lished in July 2003 by HarperCollins, it dis- taine’…. My war cry was Greek, suggested According to Henry’s great-granddaugh- cusses transatlantic travel from 1820-1910. by the name of my sled, Falcon. ‘Megale he ter Frankie Wetherell, several other of Artemis he ton Ephesion.’” Henry’s grandchildren—her aunts— loved In 1868 the group pictured above, which language and travel. “Erica [Thorp] was in included Henry’s brother and sisters, four France during World War I, helping evacu- eUpcoming Events f of his children, and Fanny’s brother spent ate children to safe areas away from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Birth- one and a half years touring Europe. shelling. She writes [in letters] of trying to day Celebration. On Saturday February Some family members traveled beyond read the story of “The Three Bears” to the 28, 2004 at 10 a.m., celebrate the poet’s the boundaries of Europe. Fanny’s half- children in French. Erica also learned Ital- 197th birthday and Nathaniel Haw- brother, Nathan Appleton, and her son ian in Rome, studying with Mme. Montes- thorne’s 200th birthday at Mount Charles Appleton Longfellow traveled to sori. She later read Pinocchio to her children, Auburn Cemetery’s Story Chapel with a Russia in 1866-67, where they conversed in translating from Italian as she read. wreath-laying ceremony, reception, and French. Later on, H.W.L. [Harry] Dana, “AnneThorp Jr. was in France afterWorld special lecture. Co-sponsored with the Henry’s grandson, learned French and War I, working with the orphans. She kept Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery. Russian and spent time in both France and up with them and their families for the rest American Theater of Living History Russia. He wrote: “In the spring of 1910 I of her life. After World War II she worked will present a series of costumed perfor- sailed to Europe, and studied for two years with the American Friends Service Commit- mances of Longfellow's contemporaries: in Paris…. During the first year I taught at tee in starting ‘Neighborhood House’ in • Louisa May Alcott by Jan Turnquist the Sorbonne, or the University of Paris, as Bremen, Germany, and learned German.” • Emily Dickenson by Belinda West a lecteur d’Anglais, and later was the lecteur Today the tradition continues: “Both • Ellen Craft by Marcia Estabook d’Anglais at the École Normale Supérieure. Anne and Alice de Berry (Erica’s daughters) • WaltWhitman by Steven Holland “In 1927 and 1928 (for twelve months), lived in Florence for some time, andspeak Sunday May 2, 9, 16, and 23 in 1931 (for four months), in 1932, in 1934, Italian fluently. Now Erica’s granddaughter, For more information call 617-876-4492 and in 1935, I lived in the Soviet Union. Erica de Berry Forbes, lives in Florence.” - 6 Longfellow House: A Unique Resource for Researchers or two researchers working on aspects places, and more of these will soon be com- to a searchable database. Fof H.W. Longfellow’s interest in trans- puterized. National Park Service archivists Not only serious researchers but casual lation—Colleen Boggs and Patricia Roy- recently finished cataloguing 9,000 pho- visitors on guided tours can appreciate the lance—the House and its archives have tographs in the House collection and the new room guides, created this past summer served as a unique research laboratory. Not Wadsworth-Longfellow papers from the by Cicie Sattarnilasskorn from the Tufts only did they find a remarkable collection poet’s ancestors. In the past year, collections University Museum Studies Program. For of papers, books, artwork, photographs, manager David Daly transferred data about each object, furnishing, or artwork in a costumes, furniture, and other objects, but all the items on display—“thousands and given room, the guides provide all the basic they also benefited from seeing artwork thousands of objects”—from paper records data known about its maker, date, and use. and books in situ. Recent cataloguing efforts, new finding aids and room guides also made their work easier. For Ph.D. candidate Patricia Roylance, Recent Research at the House seeing the art on the walls and the books on The Longfellow House archives contain over 700,000 manuscripts, letters, and signed documents and the shelves as they had been in Longfellow’s are used extensively by researchers from around the world. Here are a few recent researchers of the sev- time helped her recreate how the poet eral hundred who use the archives annually. worked: “Given the setup of his library and study, in which he often has bookcases Valery Aleksandrov of the Institute of World Literature in Moscow sent a gift of devoted to particular national literatures, he several Longfellow poems with facing Russian translations and English text titled was able to stroll through Spain and Italy Oblomki macht [The Fire of Driftwood] and inquired about the poet’s association with and France in his back hall, and Sweden and two Russians: the revolutionary and anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, whom Charles Sum- Denmark by his study window. He was able ner brought to Longfellow’s house for dinner on November 27, 1861, and Arsenieff to travel in his imagination through space (or Arsen’ev or Arseniew), a lieutenant of the Russian Navy ship Svetlana who called and time, all in his own home.” on Longfellow on April 11, 1877 and was invited to lunch the next day. Longfellow “The advantage of having such a library recorded the visits in his journal: accessible,” comments Professor Colleen “Mr. B.[Bakunin] is a Russian gentleman of education and ability,—a giant of a man, with Boggs “is that it becomes possible to docu- a most ardent, seething temperament. He was in the Revolution of Forty-eight; has seen the ment connections in more decisive ways. inside of prisons,—of Olmutz, even, where he had Lafayette’s room. Was afterwards four Knowing that Longfellow had books that years in Siberia; whence he escaped in June last, down the Amoor, and then in an American print the original and the translation side vessel by way of Japan to Califronia, and across the isthmus, hitherward. An interesting man.” by side helps to make claims about his desire Longfellow wrote of Arsenieff: “A Pleasant, modest youth. He gave me some poems in to think about languages in juxtaposition.” English by his sister. How these Russians master foreign tongues! They are taught in their childhood.” Not just the books, but all the objects are l original to the House and reflect the inter- Writing an article on the French poet Jean Reboul (1796-1864), Michel Forget of ests, tastes, and daily lives of Longfellow and the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres in Strasbourg, France, inquired several generations of his extended family. about Longfellow’s translation of Reboul’s poem “L’Ange et l’enfant.” He wanted Many objects were acquired during family to know where it could be found, and if the two contemporary poets had ever met. members’ extensive trips to Europe or Asia. Longfellow translated “The Angel and the Child” in 1870 for his Supplement to the Poets “I was particularly impressed with the dif- and Poetry of Europe and also published it that year in the Atlantic Monthly. No evidence ferent sculpture and portrait collections that of correspondence or a meeting between the two poets could be established. Longfellow had,” says Boggs. “On the one l hand, his intimate friends, hung to surround For his research on the history of a building called “Lindenhoff ” in the German him at all times—on the other, sculptures of village of Warnsdorff, Vincent von Borcke of Hamburg, Germany, has ascertained great poets. I liked the sense of intimacy that it was designed by the poet’s nephew Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. and was those artifacts created, especially since I built in 1909 by a German builder. The original owner of the house, Arthur Johann think of Longfellow as someone who was Donner, had lived in Boston prior to 1908 and may have met the architect here. deeply personal in his relationships.” l Having papers to document objects in Working on the history of women’s education in the 1860s-1880s, Jill Lamberton, a the collection is another resource unique to graduate student at the University of Michigan, came to read Alice Longfellow’s the House. Boggs points to the papers of the journal of her year (1883-1884) at Newnham College in Cambridge, England. Alice poet’s grandson Harry Dana: “He was so and her youngest sister, Anne Allegra, attended this women’s division of Cambridge eclectic in his collecting interests that search- University for one year. Having served on the committee that established Radcliffe ing through his files creates a sense of seren- College in 1879, Alice entered with the first class as a special student. She attended dipity. I found a quirky exchange about the Radcliffe until 1890 (with a year's interlude at Newnham) and continued her affilia- plaster hand that Longfellow received from tion with the school throughout her life on the executive committee, Board of the Swedish novelist Frederika Bremer.” Trustees, and as treasurer from 1883 to 1891. Catalogues and finding aids help researchers unearth items in unexpected 7 - " potlight on an bject Join us as a Friend and help support an international collection of nS each issue of the newsletter,O we focus Fine & Decorative Arts, Rare Books, Letters, and Historic Photographs Ion a particular object of interest in the Longfellow House collection. This time representing three centuries of American History… our spotlight shines on photos of the q $1000 Benefactor q $150 Contributor Ainu people, the indigenous population q q of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost $ 750 Sponsor $ 70 Family island. While traveling in Japan, Charles q $ 500 Patron q $ 30 Individual Longfellow purchased this collection of q $ 300 Donor q $ 15 Student twenty-one albumen prints known there- after as the “Ainu Album.” Make checks payable to: The album contains some of the ear- Friends of the Longfellow House liest known images of the Ainu people. 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 They were taken by a photographer dur- For more information, call (617) 876-4491. ing the spring and summer of 1871 on a trip headed by Captain H.C. St. John, a Name British Royal Navy officer surveying the Address Hokkaido coast. One photograph shows City St. John's ship among icebergs that May. Many photos show the Ainu village State Zip landscape with its straw huts. Others Telephone portray individuals such as women with Special area(s) of interest in the Longfellow House: tatooed mustaches, as pictured below. According to the writing on the album q cover, these photographs were assembled I would like someone to call me about volunteer opportunities. by a “Mr. Nogootchi” [Noguchi]. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Charles Appleton Longfellow visited the Ainus later in 1871.

Friends of the Longfellow House 105 Brattle Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138