The Scholar-Friends: Francis James Child and James Russell Lowell

The scholar-friends: Francis James Child and James Russell Lowell

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Citation Cottrell, G. W. Jr., and M. A. Dewolfe Howe. 1951. The scholar- friends: Francis James Child and James Russell Lowell. Harvard Library Bulletin V (2), Spring 1951: 135-158.

Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37363699

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Tbe double signing of the follo-7.Diugpages calls for explanation. 'The ScholaJ·-Friends' in an earlier forn1 .-t.Vasprepared by 1ne with tbe intention of u1aki11gFrancis ]a111erCbild, tbrougb bis letters to ]au1esRussell L,owell) better k1uJwn 11ot so 111uc/J to specialht5 in E11glisbscbolarsbip as to tbe Ii t er ate g cu erfl 1r effd er.' Lorr.veil'sq ual i ties as tt lett er-rJJrit er were already so f au1iliartbrougb tbe ab1111dnntp11blicatia11 of bis correspo11de11ce that rela- tively f e-w of bis letters to Cbild see111edessential to 1uy inrnzediatepurpose. lT1hen tl:Jirpaper,in its sbo-rterfor1n, rt1Jassub111itted to A1r G. TT'~Cottrell, editor of the HAUVAUD LIBRARY BuLLETINt for p1tblicatiouin that jo1lrualta question of editing tffose. Sho11ldtbe paper he extended, as he suggested, by i11troduci11g'lnore of Lowell's letters tbau I bad included? Tbere were good reasonsfor pursuing tbis course, especially on the ground tbat it would link the friend rbip of the two 1nen 111oreclosely witb their scholarship. Fron, tbe considerabletask of enh1rge111entand rean~ange~11e11tI sbould 111y- self bave sbrlnlk; butt if a Jolf.nger baud n.nd eye stood tendy to undertake it, ri.vhyindeed should it 11ot be done? T11itb industry and skill Alr Cottrell bas perf or111edtbfr task. 1-le bns '}}Ot edited tbe first person singular out of t be opening pages setting f ortb 111y i 11iti al part in t be enterprise. Else- where be has blended bir words happily with 111y lYJJn. J-Jeand 1 are equally willing to accept the co11scq11e11cesof tbis collaboration. M. A. De"\~T.I-I. 0 ''-TNthrong h the ages le tter.s have been the great pre- servative of personality·. The 1nan ,vho ,vrites them can~ not help rcvc a 1in g hi n1sclf. -Nor does it stop there.. Th c tone -and spirit of his Ietters var) 7 ,vi th the natures of the friends to ,vhom he is \Yriting., and~ though of course less obvio11sly, the personality of each friend is suggested if not actually revealed ..

The pages that follo,v speak, ,vith this reciprocal .illnn1i.nation1 for the f ricndship of nvo Harvard .scholars, Francis James Child and Ja1ncs R usscll Lo, vcll. Lo,v c11ts cn1in en t p] acc a1nong En gljsh Iet tcr-, vriters has long been established,.through the printing of large nurnbers of his letters to his friends and to his daughter. -Not so ,vith Chi]d. Only one sn1a1lcollection of Child's letters, A Scbolar's-Letters to a Young Lady.,·issued in 1 92o in a Jin1ited edition, has sho,vn the quality of his correspondence.

' Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) 1 36 Harvard Librirry Bullcti11 The ten opening pages of tha.t little book, edited by me., ,vere devoted to a biographical sketch,, 'Francis J:uncs Child.' It ,voul

including a nun1b~r to Lo,vcll1 he ,vrote to i\1rs Gilbert Ca111pbcllScog- gin~ Child's daughter, in rt sin1ilgrvein of appreciation, saying~~It does sccn1 to 111ethat a hook ,vith the title "l..e-tters of Jan1cs Russell Lo"~ell an

this late day.. In the. n1ea11,vhi]c1 considerable ntunbers of Child l~t- tcrs to Lo,veJl and uf J__,o,velI to Child had been placed in the Harvard Co1lege Library by l\1rs Scoggin. Not quite untouched/ this correspondence no\v seerns - in vic,v of the enlarged conception of the prcs- e n t n n de rt nking - deserving of pu bl ica ti on substantially in its en ti rct) 7 t for its tcstin1on1::1.lro ,varn1 and rich f ricndship bct,vccn t,vo highly gifted n1cn and for jts vjvid c9nveying of 11erson~lity.. Child's ]cttcrsJ

covcring 1 in the very na turc of thing~~ a far ,Yider range of interest than those ::1.ddrcssedto a 'Young Lad1\" )rct couched in sin1ilarly ~en- sitive., hu1norous., affectionate terms, clcarl y cxplai n his place an1ong his conte1nporarics -as a uniqne]y be]oved n1an and scholar~ ,v hilc grcatly

reinforcing his t lain1to high epistolary rank. Those of Lo\vcl1t though

1 The rec j pi en t of these I ettcrs ,vishcd at the ti me of t hci r p uh li catio [l to be n a n1e- lcss, ~nd her wfah was observed~ She may no\v l;e identifie,1 ss the late A1iss E.1nily l 'uc kcrnrn n of Stock b rid gc~ l\ 1a ss-achu~etts. !! Four n( the L

ary 1883-iJ)ccc1nbcr? 1683) ·were prin.ted - ,vith important omhsions 11 be it said -by Norton in his Letterr of James_ Rund/ Lowd/ (Euston~ r893~ re,+~ed edition r 904 ) , n n d 1 r~d ford quotcd g_ f.c,v c h'l r--1ctcr j sti c sente.n c cs from Child\ letters to Lo,vcll in his 1ponni1t' of Child in As God JHnde T bnu ( Iloston, 1929) .

...

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Tbe Scbolar-f'rieuds 1 37 obviously of less significance in vie,v of the extent of his correspond~ ence a]rcady publishedJnevertheless have seen1ed ,vorthy of inclusion here., not only as foils for and explanations of the Child letters~ but because of their o,vn intrinsic n1crit. I-1u,vcvcr brief ( and they are usually brief er than (:hild1s) they yet invariably contain son1e flash of their ,vritcr's ,vit or charn1. Not the least striking feature of this correspondence is its revelation of the dynamic course of a fricndshipi fro1n its first for1nal overtures to its final intimate close. Salutations range f ron1 ~Dear Sir' and 'A1y 8 dear J... O\vell (if you ,vii 1 allo\v n1e to call you so) t to 'Carissimo Cia.rli,' 'Dearest Jamie/ 'Dcliriae i\1eae/ and 'Carj~siu1n1n Caput., Subscrip- tions run .sin1ilarly fron1 'Y.ours faithfully" to 'Ever your n1ost ~ffcc- tionatc~' And all this rich dcvclopn1cnt is seen against a bar.:kgroundof life's stages fron1 ascendant young n1anhood through the strains and heart searchings of the n1idd]c ·years to the hard-,von serenity of old age+ l>articnlarly111cn1orablc is the q ua1ity of the late evening light that plays over the last letters. Another facet is that of the. (scbolnr-f ricnds.t Child's prc-crnincncc in .scholarship has been the thcn1e of 11u1ncrouspanegyrics., centcrjng about his n1onu1ncntal achicven1e.ntjn the E11glisband Scottish f'op,1- lnr BaJlads.Here ,ve see hin1 in the n1idst of his unceasing hunt for

hallads or in the stern pursuit of verbal parr1lle]s1 yet delighting no less in the hun1ors of scholarship, ever ready for a pun, a quip, a quotation. J..... 0" 1 ell the scholar has been ovcrshado\vcd by Lcnvcll the poet, the essayist, the dip1on1at, and Iightly so; yet jn these letters he c~hihits again and again a fan1iljarityand concern \Vith the 1ninutiac of research that c.:ertainly arc not ordinarily associated "rith his catccr. Each ap- preciated to the f llll the special virtues of the other, and each ,vas ever ready to further ,vithout hint pf Iivalry the 2i111s of the other. One thinks of Lo\vcll's praise of Child's lectures at Johns Hopkins~ of Chi]d,s constructive criticisrn of J.Jo,veliistssay· on Chaucer, of Lo,vcli, again~bnl1nd-hnnting in Child's behalf~ 1mp]icit in these letters, too, is the love of reading and of books. In fact the entire correspondence tnight be said to have reading as one of its cornerstones - reading and collecting .. Concern for the I-Iarvard Library is a recurrent thctnc, and both Child and Lo,vcll ,vcrc a1nong

1 !) 'Ciadi being the tronscriptton of an lrnlfo.n bcggar,s ~ttCH~J1t to pronounce tChHu.1

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) 138 Harvard Library B1flleth1 the great benefactors of the Library4 I ...o\"veIPs contribution has already· been signalized, at least in p~rt, in the pages of the l..11BRAH.YBuLLE1'IN. 4 As for Cl~ild,a 1ninute adopted by the Library Council 1 Novc1nbcr

1897, a year after his dcath 1 beg rs such eloquent ,vitncss that it is quoted here in full: · This n1inute ,vas I"ead and adopted at the n1eeting of the Library Council of Harvard Un i-versjty, N overnLer 1, 1897; - J?rofefisor Fra.ncis J am~s Ch.ild been mo n mcn1ber of the old l,ihrary Commit- tee ( the pre dcccssor of tile Council) at th c titnc of j ts organization in J 8 59. In

1865 he ,vas chosen Secretary of the Con1mittce 1 and on Apri] 6, 1867, ,vhcn the ne,v 1y established Cou ncH of the Library had its iirst 1neeting, he v~-'aselected Secretary, ~in office ,vhil:h he held until hjs death in SeptemLer! l 896. Until rcccn t y cars th c regular duties of the Conn d 1 in cl udcd m:an y 111:1ttcrs of d eta i1, and n1eetings ,vere held more f requ en tl y than at the present tin1e. Yet Professor Chi]d ,\·as constant in his attendance, since the records sho\v that he ,vas absent f rorn ouly four n1eetings during the thirty·-t\VO years f ron1 1 864-to l 896. · ·rhis a5siduity ,vns not, ho,vcvcrt the greatest of his senrices to the J... ibrary.

Besid cs his gen cra.l in tcrcst in all th c du ti cs of th c Gouo ci] 1 the value of his ,vo rk ~s a selector of books cannot be over-estin1atcd. His o,,,n studies covered a ,vide rangcJ and at the tjn1c of his death he "~as a director of expenditures for

boo ks on the Eng lj5h ]angu age and Iitera tnre. Fol k-lore1 Italian and Romance 1angu agcs, i\11eel 1 acval l iteratnrc, P -0rtugu C5C and Spanish, Sea nd inavj an ]i tera ture~ and Slavic languages :and Iitcra tu re. l\JJoreover jt is due to his researches and rccon1111endations that the Libr~.U)'

p osscs5es a col lec:tion of Ba11 ad literature, including man uscri pts 1 ,v hi ch is u n- r i va Ucd any,\'hcrc in the "world. The Folk-lore collection, too, is "~ondcrfully con1 plete for all periods, and ~f not uncq ua.11cd, is certainly one of the best in

cxi ten cc 1 even SI a vie Fol k-1ore being represented. The collection of l\1edj £Jeval

li tcnttu re of :1l l nn ti on~ forms an exce 11en t ,vork ing ]ibrary 1 ha r

seeing 1 :.u1dunselfish in his considenition of every department of learning with Vi/l1ichthe Library js cont:emed. A f l R d • true copy o t lC ecor {signed] At orris H. Atorgan Sccretarv., of the Council 5

"Francis l\l. Rogcni 1 'Th~ LiL.-aric~ for- Ron1:lncc J..angungcs and Literatures/· HAx\'Alrn L!B&i:A'RY BvJ.LErH,.r! 1\1 ( l 950 ), i7 [-"J..76. r; Printed f rorn copy sent j\1rs Child ( and ind tided anlOngthe ChHd papers prc- sent-ed by 1\-'lrsSeo ggin ) , ·vdth the :signature of 1\1orris I-J• ck y i\1organi then Assistant Professor of L~tin, later Professor of C!~ssicalJ:>hiloJogy! and himself a :rnajorbcnc- f actor of the Library through his great col lccd on of }lcrsi us.

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Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) t:11 U .ll TH L YOV~G PROFJ:SSOR

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LO\YELL AT T.L:\l\YOOD, CA+ I 865

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Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) T be Scbolrrr-Friends 1 39 The correspondence is accordingly' given in its cntiret)r, except for a very fc,,Tpurely forn1al and quite 11111mportantpieces. Lo,ve]l letters to Child a]rcady printed in part by Norton are published here in full,

fro1n the originals. The on]y other published letter of Lo,vcll to Child 1 actu-aUythe first in the series, is also included, for the sake of comp]ctc- ness, b11t in this case· it is n1erely reprinted frotn the previously pub- ]ishcd version, since the original is no longer avail-ab]c. All letters are

prjntcd ,vithout on1ission (although a fe,v doubtful passages ren1ain 1 ,vhcre Child's infamous hand has resisted the n1ost earnest attempts at dcciphernlent), and orthography., punctuation, and arrangcn1c~1t all reflect the originals. An attempt has been tnade also to arrange the letters in chronolog- ical order, and to provide a n1odicu1n of f rame,vork ( elaborate stage- setting and annotation ,vould obviously contradict the spirit of the correspondence). 1""hcf reguent]y· inadequate dating - a sure sign that a ,vriter of letters has no thought of their consideration in rehi- tion to the course of his o,vn life - can often be supplen1entcdby internal e_vidence, and occasionally an undated Jetter can thus be absolutely .fixed, but even after a considerable amount of dctecti ve ,vork a fair proportion of the letters rcn1ain vef) 7 tentatively pJaced and 1n ay·in so n1 c cases be several }rears out of proper 01:dcr.

Lo\veJl! born in 1819, ,vas si_x years older than Child, and eight )rears h]s senior as a graduate of_ Har\rard~ At the tin1c of the first 1010\vn Jetter,, l ..o,vcll had Jate]y -dazzledhis contcn1porarics ,vith that a1111us1nirabilis ,vhich sa,v the appearance of Poeu1s:Seco11d Series, A }?ablefor Critics, Tbe Riglow Papers (first series), Tbe Visio11of Sir . Lrrunf aI,. and so n1e forty contri butio n s to periodicals. His in tcrcsts 2s ,vriter and editor gave him, in spite of his close associa.tion \vjth c~u11+- bridge1 a concern ,vith Boston and outlying partes i11fide!i1nnt~at did not char~ctcrizc tl1e acadcn1ic circle., a.nd no doubt his relations ,vith Child ,vcrc no less official or scn1i-officjal than the form and tone of this Jetter ,vould in1ply. Childt Eince his graduation in 1846, had been tutor and instru_cto r at Harvard, in such d ivcrse subjects as ma the- ma ti cs, rhctqric, and political economy. He prcsu1nably left for his nvo }'cars of study in Europe shortl)Tafter rcccivjng this letter. The ~co1npli1ncnt' here alluded to and declined by Lo,veU \Vas an h1vita- tion to deliver the Phi Beta l(appa poem at Harvard in 18 50; the actual ' .

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Ilttr·vard J...jbrnr ')1 Bulletiu

poet of the occasion ,vas Bayard 1~ay1or,v1r 1 ho beca.n1eLo\ve1lts guest at Elm,vood for the ti1ne. Plate I reproduces a dril,ving of Child in Ger1nan student costun,c,. executed in Gottingcn in 1850 or 1851., and presented by Child to Jos~ph T. Atkinson., of Baltin1orc,,vho in turn gave it to I~]arvard~ ,v here it is 110\V to be found in the U nivcrsity Archives. Beneath the dra,vj ng runs an inscription in Child's hand: Ein sn:1rkesBier~ ein beizender Toback., U nd dne l\1lagd in1 Putz,

Elm\vood, r Oct, I 849, Dc~r Sirt ,vith n1nny thanks for the comp1in1cnt i111pliedjn your selection, I n1ust beg leave to decEne perf onning the service ,vhich you request of me. But., no,v that 1 have you by the huttoni allcnv me to rnake a suggestion in behalf of my gujld. Shou]d not tl1e ''Liter~ry Con1mittce11 tal{c it into consideration that the attentive capacities of an audience arc l1111ircd?Either so tether the orators that they shall neither graze upon nor trample that share of the con11Bonp~ddock ,vhich bcJongs of right to Pegasus, or (as turn and turn about is fair pJay) Jct orator and poet have the first place in ::1lternatcyears. Do the orators bc]icvc that the ears of their audience are so long that a certain a1nount of ,voodcn taik is needful by \\rny of handle, ns it ,vcrc. in order to 1nakc the point of their discourse reach do,vn to the ty111panun1?Ccrta3n it js that, if the hearers ha

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) T be S cbolar-Frieuds harrehvagon. ,,rouid he not seem to tOl\'er up into a grin1 figure of Nemesis? ,~'ith this for your private considcrationi should you be on the Con1mit-

tcc next year 1 I rcn1ain, \Tcry sincerely yours

The first kno\vn ]ettcrs f ron1 Child to l ..o"rel l are to be dated f ron1 January 1 8 5 5, yet there 111nst have been a considerable prior inter- change, for during 1854 I...o,vc1ltseditions of Keats, Dry·den., and "\7\rords\vorth had appeared in the Rritisb Poets series, published by Little, Bro,vn, the gcncTal editorship of \vhich Child l1a_dundertaken in 1852. None the less, these letters suggest the opening p~ssages of a ,varmer acquaintance. They obviously TC]areto _the course of Lo\vcU Institute lectures, on English poets, ,vhich Lo,vcll began 9 January 185 5 and ,vhich had so signal a success. In these },.cars, it n1ay be

noted 1 1ncn still rcmcrnbcred Jacksonis victory· 2t Nc,v Orlcnns., 8 Jan- uary 18 I 3~ Did not 'Lo,vcll sin1i]arly.,and as late as 8 January 1 867, date a Jetter to Edn1und Quincy 'Die Sanct~ Andr.. Aprel.i? 7 Subse- quent references to the vol tune of Skelton jndicatc jts use in the editing of that poet for the Little, Bro\vn series; the Britisb Poets edition duly appeared jn 185 6, based on the edition of Dyce ,vith revisions and addi- tions by Child. 'Dr 1-io,vc' is Estes Ho\vc, husband of Lois '''hire Ho,vc, the sister of Lo,vellls first ,vifc, l\1aria '''hitc Lo,vcll~ ,vho had died in 185 3. i\1abe1 Lo,veHJ the 0111)7 surviving child of the 1narriagc, stayed vtith the I-I_o,ves, at th cir ho1ne on 'Prof cssors., R o,v ,' Ca 111hr id gc, , Y hi l c J,.Jo,Yell" ..as -abroad 1855-56 (.sec belo,v). Frances Dunlap, \vho1n l"o,vell n1arriedin Septen, ber i 8 57, acted as go,Tcrness for IVIabe] d ur- ing this period. 'Fanny' Lo,vcil figures ]argcl)r in the later coTrcspond- encc \Vith Child~ There ,vcrc no children by the second marriage. · Plate I I ( f ron1 a photograph in the I Iarvard Arc hi vc-s}sho,vs Child the Young Professor. On his return f ron1 Europe in 1 8 5 1 he had heen made Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory., n chair ,vhich he he]d until 1876. Routine duties of this chair., such as the supervision of

Reprinted fron1 l·lew Letters of Ja111es]

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Har·vard J_aribraryB11lleti11 I argc quantities of studcn t thc1ncs, thougl1 pcrf onned by Cl1ild ,vi th unfailing devotion and_good nature, great!y delayed the accomplish- ment of his rnajor ,vor'k.

l\1onday 8 Jan[ 1855] i\1y dear Lo,vcll (if yon ,vill aUo,v me to call yon so) J do not ,vrjtci as you n1ay suppose, to celebrate the g1orious 1ncn1oryof the battJc of Nc\v OrJcanst but first to ,vjsh you speed in the cmprise ,vhich

b cgins to1nor ro \\7 , n d pri nci pa]1 y to ask for t\ vo ti ckcts to th c e-vening lectures in case any should be still Jcft in your h;inds. In this application I do not expect any su cce:Ssi kn o, vi ng ,vc 11 th at th c Boston icnncs -arc rca d )7 to tear y·ou jn pieces as sn1all as Orpheus. But an intelligent young ,voman ,vrote to me to ohtatn at least one if I could~ and I could not do less tl1an try. I shall recommend her to the afternoon course. I have heard the hcst things of your prolusion at Shady Hill and hope to indulge ffi) 7 o,vn ears ,vi th the sound of your voice. I an1 preparing a hccaton1b for ton1orro,v evening Yours faithfully F. ]. Child J+ RI l..o,vcll r~q

[Can1bridgc1 19 or 26 Janu~ry 1855] 1\-iy dear Lo, vel1) I have left i\1astcr Skelton for you at Dr 1-Io,ve,s, and ,vould hnve brought it to Elm,vood had tin1c and the state of the tides bct\vccn n1c & you a11o,vcd~ I an1 off tomorro,v for Ncvt York, and n1ust depend on the Adv crtjser for my ] ecture.i:.~But I hope to get hack j n time to "\Vitnes~ the Grand Principal Act of the last, and to celebrate Y'0ur triumph at Shady Hill or else\vhere~ Take my. parting blessing & believe me nl,vays · Yours f aithful1y F J Child Friday

As early as 31 January 1855 Longfcllo,v recorded in his journal that Lo,vcll ,vas to succeed hin1 in the S1nith Professorship of the French and Spanish Languages and Liccraturcs.f; Childt not a,vare chat the rnatter ,vaS' already settled, ,vrote f ro1n Nc\v Yark to urge Lo\vcll to accept, An1ong the tern1s ,vas the pro vision that Lo,vc11 should have a year abroad to fit hin1sclf more fully for his 11c,v duties. Before

Ii; San1uclLongf c11o,v' Lif C Of Henry JVad swort f," Long( ~now ( Bostont I H91 ) ' IT' 2:8L

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Tbe Scho1ar-Frie11ds t43 he sailed, in June 1855; and follo,vin.g the conclusion of the Lo,vcll lectures, he made -an unrc,varding but hardl) 7 unrc,v~1rdcd lecture tour in the '''est. I-Iis edition of Donne's Poeticnl 111 orks appeared in the British Poets series in this )'Car.

Ne,v York, 7 Febry [ 1855J . l\1y dear Lo,vell, I heard last evening ,fron1 Norton of the overtures made you by the Cor- poration (a n1atter I had been 1vishing to speak ,vith you aboutt having had .some ,vords " 7ith Dr Waiker on the subject) and that you ,vere in- clined to listen to tenns. 1 had not supposed they ,vou Id take any steps to .fi11 the place imtnedia. tel y t or I shou 1d hav c ende avored to prepossess you j n favor of it. , Ve are a 11interested in your accc ptin g th c nomination, for a thonsnnd reasons, and an1ong thcin arc the credit of the College in the

Jand, your o,vn happinc.~s1 and our personal pleasure at havjng you associated ,vit h u 5~ \~l cre it not a goodly sight to see you ,vi th the gray b cards around the council hoard, meting out justice to row,.dy Sophomores. and io th c co ursc of an inquisition into the ca use of broken ,vin d o,vs ref erring ,vith pious cnthusiasn1 to your good old days under President Saturn ,vhen sueh imn1 ora1 i ties [?] , vere un kno ,vn? The pleasure of ,g_tten ding Fa cu Ity 1neet1ngs is alone ,vorth more than the price of admission, I assure you. Then think of ,vh~t is implied in your Lectureship.. Lying on the sofn and reading Don Qaixote, Reineke Fuchs, Dante & the NibelungenJ Troubadours~ & Contes Joyaux. No teaching of gra1nn1ars., no reading La ~ontainc & Jrjartc ,vith all the blockheads in a class~ hut the privjlcgc of free speech on the great thcn1es of 1nodern literature~ By coining in ,vith us too you secure t,vo vacations a year., ,vhich you have not had I suppose since you Icft coUcgct and if you don't get much money, you at anr rate a cquirc the right of f cc] in g th at you bclon g to one of th c disinterested & liberal classes of society to ,vhom money is no object, and another ~'inalien- able') one of gru1nbling once a year at the stinginess of the Americans to their greatest men+ There arc many other advantages 1.vhtch might be enumerated of aU the various kinds that h~ve been mentioned .. I am sorry that you do not feel in the highest spirjts at the thought of a.bandoning a. Bedouin for a steady lifc. Take our ,vord for it, that you ,vjll find the yoke a light on c and 1.vhen you find ,v h t deep rut f u rro-,Ysyon can turn up you 1vill enjoy ploughing in harness · I :1111actually in the fruition of son1e of these pleasures ,vhich I hold out to you - having nothing to do these fc,v \vccks but read Dantet Don Quixote & Faust in 1nost agreeable co1npan)r, )' our l~ctures are read 1vith great deltght by n1y friends here ,vhcn they can get hold of them. You ought to give thcxn in Nc,v York after you have ·concluded your other engagements. - I an1 in a hurry this morning and have been son1c,vhat distracted ,vhilc ,vriting these lines But J hope that I have said enough to

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) 144 Hnrvnrd L1bra,:yBulletin convince you of the .sincere ple2sure ,vith ,vhich I shou]d crnbracc you as a colleague nnd of n1y strong conviction not only that you ,vould distinguish yourself in your office bur enjoy this ne\V kind of activity. Quod fclix faustumque sit! · You rs in ost f airhf ul Iy F. J~Child J. R+ Lo,vc11Esq

[Can1bridge1 h1arch, 185 5] 1\1y dear Lo\Yc11, I expected to_sec you last night at the piny and jndccd in your ne,v character you ought cspccjaBy to have been present'" The Nortons are the only people \Vho have .seen you since yon -.verc obliged to hide yourself from popular applause in son1e country vHiagc. I hope ho,vever to get one glilnpse of you before you leave An1erica, if not before you begin your ·w,estern tdun1ph. l\·iy immediate object (no doubt you foresa,v I ,vas coming to son1e- th1ng) is to ask you to leave Skelton so111e1,vhercfor me, 1"he copy f ro1n ,,~hich,ve are printing is dcf cctive to the extent of a ,vhole signature+ I am going over the notes to sec if I can better thcn1.,but it fa a boot1css labor. ,,That are the British Poets to do ,vithout yotti do you think? Ever faithf u1Iy yours F. J Child James Russell Lo,vcll Esq.

Elnnvood. J 2 tb ,\1arch 185 5. 5 o,clock A .At .i\1 y dear Child, I should have ans,vcrcd your kind letter -from Ne,v York long ago - but that I heard just after receiving it that you had gone from there & ~ssu111cd nomadic address. Since your coining back I have called upon yon (or your door) t\\'ice & failed - that isi I found the door. 1rou see my unheard of date .. J start for Buffalo this morning at 7 I faithfully corrected the fa.st copy for Donne yesterday'" Skelton I left for you at 1\-irsDr J-fo ..ve's - not being able to find you. 1Vlnnythanks for him. I ,vonld ~ooner endorse Dy-ce's notes than 'take thern up' as you speak of doing. Th-ere arc too many of c1n & he has so1netin1csif I re[netn- ber rightly gone bflck to an old reading ,vhich means nothing but that the scribe could not spc11. Eut they nrc learned. A 111an,vriting at five o'clock in the 1norning cannot be cxpc<;te

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) The Scbolnr-Frieuds 145 shall hope to sec you as soon ~s I get back fro1n the \~'est & to thank you for your kind letter. About the Professorship, I an1 doubtful if I ,vas ,vise to acCC})t~ \T cry truly yours J. R. Lo,vcJL Jlrof. Child.

The next three letters renlain unanchored. The first t\vo Yolun1cs of Gruntvig's great ,vorkt Drnnnarksgau!le J?o/kevirer,v.1hich in 1nany respects \Vas the jnspiration of Child's 'lnng11u111opus,, appeared in parts

1 8 52~5 6; publication of the third volun1e ,vas completed in 1 862 1 and of the fourth ·in 1883. The Gruntvjg-Child correspondence O clearly indicates the share Gruntvig had in the 1nolding of Tbe English aJld Scottisb Popular Ballads,vhilc it reveals a charnling personal re]ation bct,veen the t,vo foremost schohirs of the general fie]d. Child's 'lovcl)7 pupils at Shady Hill~ arc presumably Jane and Grace

Norton 1 sisters of Charles Eliot, and inti1nnte friends and correspond- ents of both Child and Lo\,rell. In a letter to Grace ,vritten f ron1 Stockbridge 1 z February 1860 Child r.:omplin1cnts her on the German .exercise she had just sent .him.10 At Stockbridge, as in Ne,v York, during- these n1id,vinter vacation tripsi Child visited the Robert Scdg-

\Vick fanlily1 ,,~hosedaughter Elizabeth he n1arried (at Stockbridge) on io August 1860. Portraits of Jane and Grace Norton arc reproduced in Plate III, that of the forn1cr fro1n a miniature by Staigg in the possession of l\1rs "\\Tj]liam Norton Bullard, that of the latter from a crayon sketch by Ro,vse no,v ·in the '''orccster Art l\1uscun1~ Both are reproduced ,vith the l{ind perrnission of the o\vncrs.

Prepare the n1inds of your fami]y and f rjcnds for a separation until Saturday., dear Lo,vclL For he that arrives - as you ,vill and I shall~ ~c

4 ½t and goes at 8 the next nlorning1 1nay ''cxclaitn i, ,vitl1 t11e Roman cn11)erorhunc perdtdi djcn1~ No\V a dien1 ,ve may perhaps afford to lose~ hut $4.00 - 40 dfrns are not to he thro,vn 8 \vrty. Yau 111ust therefore either con1c in the evening boa.ti starring (f ron1 Fall RhTeror Old Colony

ri P,rhlished by S. B. Hustvedt in llallad ]looks nnd Ballad Afcn (C,-unbridgci 1\1ass.t J 930 )t Appendix A. 1 J Among the Norton papers in the l-far,·ard Library.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Hnrvnrd Library 13ulletjn Station) at S & arriving at 9 -or else you must starting at 11 ½ ton1orrow stay till SatY - Dixi. F. C+ Before breakfnst.

l\1onday. [January? 1860?] Dear Lo1.vcll, I send the Scan dina vj an catalogue you said you ,van ted & lists of books ,v hi cl1 I consider desirable ..- nead y all vol k slieder & volks n1arch en. The only thing dear I h -aveput into the lists is t11e,,, ien er Jahr bii ch er - indis- pensahle ro you & to me~ Sttll 1 ,vould rather hav·e the ballad books :first.. Those \vhich arc in 'German S,vedish & Danish I have n1arked \\'ith a cross as deserving preference. I have not filled out the lists propcr1y for ,vant of time::to go to the Library. Eliot says the lists arc to be completed hy l\.1arch 1. If I can have a day-or t,vo at the beginning of the tern1 I ,vill look up all the particulars of price & date. As for place they can all be found at Leipsi er _ I ,vish I could leave you Svend Grundtvjg for your lcjsurc n101ncnts+I \viJltry to get through ,, ..ith the t,vo first vo~sin the course of the vacation. The col1cction of N yeru p ,vhicl1 -is in tl1c Library n1ay- an~nver your general[?] purposes equally \\'ell, or perhaps you \vill prefer Ar,vidsson,.s S,vcdish ballads~ they being ,vc11edited, and Nyerup 1s Danish not par- ticularly so, ( according to Grundt\Tig) I n1ean no,v soon~r or later to n1ake u clean s\veep of the \Vhole fie]di of Norther11 ballads at le~str Give n1y ]ovcly pu pi]s at Shady I-Jilla little help in German ,vhi]c I a111 gone. I hope to bring back good ne,vs and a light heart. "\\ 1ith kindest regards to your \Vife ever rour faithful & affectionate

I F. Ciarli Am hard pressed for tin1c or I should con1e bodily.

Elnnvood, :24th1\1ay. [ 186-?] Carissimo m io Ciar li ho fa tt o il dovere

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Tbe Scbolar-Friends 147 hib~rnatingt think of great Dioclccjan. I have seen pa115iesblooming just belo-\v the sno,v of Etna, & you may yet see a blossom or tv.70 on the south- ern edge of this -estranged_spring-if there should turn out to be one. i\1ean\vhilc, I an1 lovingly yours JR L

An1011gthe Child papers presented to I-Jarvard there is the follo,v- ing little pocn1 in Lo\vcll's hand~ Tt js ten1pting to associate it ,vith a

gift of a cop)r of A-iaster Tyl Owlglass1 translated h)7 K. R. H. l\1ac- kenzie and illustrated h)T ~Alfred Gro,vquill' (London: Trii.bncr & Co .., 1860; BostonJ Ticknor & Fields, 1860). The London edition, inter~ estingly· enoughJ js advertised on the ,vrappcr of the first part of Tbe Biglow Papers,,Seco11d Series, published by Triibner in 1862. But there , vere of cou rsc other translations of 1 ~yJ of Iikel y date, j n cl udi ng that of Charles de Coster into French (Paris 1868)., ,vhich has served as the basis for n1any of the popular editions of more recent times .. [ 186-?] Ciar]i n1io., Ti guardi Jddio! Ecco il Ii bro moderno-vecc hio Chiama to 1o s trig e-sp ecch io; Per darne 11na senten za di ho tto, Potrci dirlo hen tradotto;

Riticnjlo quanro· v11oi1 Sempre cont~ndomi Ira i tuoi.

The next letter may be tentatively assigned to 1862, ,~then parts of the second series of Tbe Biglow Pnpers \'{ere appearing in the A tl«11tic A1.ontbly. Child's lo\vness of spirits may-,vell reflect the state of the country, deep in civil ,var by that year, and the soliciting of subscriptions 1nay derive from the san1c source. It ,vas the spring of 1862, it

,vill be i-cmcn1bcred1 that sa\v the fan1ous collaboration of Child and Lo,vcll in 11Pesceballo,, the burlesque operetta staged to raise n1oncy for ,var rclicf_:11.Also prcsu1nably to br assigned to 1862 is Lo,vclPs anony1nous contribution of t.A Con1pron1isei to Child ts TfTar-Songs for Free111eutfirst published in that )7 ear ..i 2

:1t Sec 1. A. De ,:vo lf c H o\vc~ ' i11Pcsc cha 1101 ': The f j shhall O pcr-ctta of Francis

jfemcs Child/ Ne-w Englnnd Quarterly 1 XXIII (1950), 187-199, . 11 l'I wsc ,Tcrscs, to th c tune of 'Duncan Gray 1' ha vc a p pa rcntl y not p rev .iously been identified as: Lo,vclJ's - they -J.rc not to be found for cx:-a.tnploin U1u:ollec.ted

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Harvard Library Bulletin Finally, the n1emorable description of Child left by 1-Ienry James harks back specifically to 1862. It is so apposite that jts quotation here c-annot be resisted. Jan1 cs had ju st com c n p to Harvard f ron1 J.\Tc1-vport to enter the Lavl School, and ,vas boarding ,vith his brother \\ 1illia1n at l\1rs UpharnJs, ,vhere Child ,vas also tcn1porarily a patron:

The irnage most viviuly restored is doullt1c.ss that of Professor F. J~Child 1 head of the "English J)epartn1cne"' at Harvard and 1na:stcr of that grc:1t n1odcrn sci- ence of f olk-lorc to his e.cco1nplishtnent in ,vhjch h~s vast and s:Io,vly-publishcd c 011cc tion of the Ballad Htera n1re of o tl r ]anguage is a recognised 111011um en t; delightful man, rounded charr1cte1\ passjorrnte patriot, adn1irable ta, ker1 above all thorough hun1anist and humorist~ He ··wasthe genial autocrat of that break-

f~st-tnble not only 1 but of m.1rsyrnpn~ia other\vise tin1ed~ and as he comes back to me ,vith the fresh and t1uite t.ircubr countenanc.:e of the time before the

personal c:irc:s and crnnp1icacion_,of lmfe Jrn.d gnrvciy thickened for h1m1 his aspc:ct all finely circufor, ,viLh its c]osc rings of the f~ircst ho.ir, its golden .rirns of the largest glnsses, its finished rotundity of figure :0nd I sec that there ,vas the ..A111crican spirit~ since I \Vas "after"' h- of a quality deeply inbred~ beautifully adjusted to all cxtens1ons of kno,vledge and taste and, as sccn1cd to met quite st1bJimelyquickened by everything that ,vas '9t the tin1c so rrcn1en- dous1y in <-]ucstjun. 1 ..hat vision of him ,vas never aften,·ards to yjeld to orher lights - though these, even had occasion for them been-more frec1uent ,~:ith me, cou]dn!t 111uchhave interfered ,vith it; so that ,vhn.t I stil1 1nost rctn•n of him is

the very flusl~ and 111ob rlity i - the living expansion and con tm.ction, the b d ght corned y and a1111 ost h, n ar e clips e, of his ch cru hie face -according as things ap- p ~are

enough cvcry,vhere for gaping 1 but greatest of al11 I think, 1v-I1ilcthat tense sea-

son fasted! ,vas rny \Yonder for the signs ncl p or ten ti.,i the c1u ips nd era nks., th c

\\Teathcd smiles, or othenvisc the candid obscurations 1 of our prin,e talker's presented visage. I set:t as it ,vcrci the snrnH tick of 1ny o,vn poor ,vatch by fr~ ,v hi ch pri va tc reg is te r ,.,:c)U 1 d th u 1np or in tc r n1it in agr ecrn en t "ri th these ind i ca- ti o nsl I recover it that, thank~ to the perpetual p1ay of his syn1pathy :1nd ironyi confidence and scorn, as 1vcll as to that of 1ny ow·nJess certainly directed sensi- bHity, he stnu.:k n1e on the bad day.s,\l 7h..ich,vcre t~cn so many, as fairly augusti chcrubisn1 and nlli for sincer~ty· of assocjation ,vith every light and shnde, e,Tcry ebb and flo1-\\ of our Cause+13

P pe1ns v f ] a1nes Ru s s-rll Lo ivell, £ d, Thd1na i1 + Siu ith (Philadelphia, I 950) . I--JO\.V-

cvc-rJ a llraft of the fost ~anza in Lo"Tdl'~ "lUtogr~ph and \.vith autograph corrcctionsi found among the Child papers presented hy l\lrs Scoggin,·"rould seem to Ical'c no doubt ~s to the authorship.

-;i:;i l•lotr!s of a Son and IJrotf:Jer (Nc\v ··rork:t l 914), pp. 32-0-31.:2, reprjntcd here ,'i.·iththe kind pern1ission of the publishers~ Charles Scduncr!:s Sons.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) 1 1 be Scbolar-Friends 149 Jn the present Jetter, Child~s hon1ely use of 'lalocs' for (Jilacs' js as , v cl con1e as th c su rvi val of his versified rcspo nse to Lo, vcl l , vo u l d have been.

l\1y dear Fricndi I O\YC you for three rhingsi yea four- t\l'"O poc111s and t,vo lalocs~ If the trees only could come up to the poetry, ,vouldn~t I raise the price of this estate! I ,vish I could have heard the Biglo,v from your o,vn monthJ - m9rc to have laughed out loud -,vhich I rarely have spirits for~ than for :anythingebe. It ,vill bear reading any number of times. I enclose fl ,vretched atten1pt to ans\vcr you in your o,v-n style. I am sure you ,vill stop \vriting if this fc11o,vfollo,,rs you up: so I hope he may be choked by and for his first a ttcmpt. · The trees have taken kindly to the soi] nnd don't sho\ 1t any sign of ]1omcsickness. I shall ::th\•aysfeel ns if yon ,vere near if they live. . The , vonl en of th c F recd n1cn' s Society gave n1c th c n an1cs of certain persons \V h otn l , vas to ask for subscriptions \\ 7c ha vc got about 640 dollars fron1 the °Collegc ChapeF' includjng all the people thnt dont go nny\vherc to church. I have assni1ed everybody but you~ and no,v have neither con:=;cicn ce to ask you nor to let you go. You n1ust consider in your giving that you 1nny be called upon regularly for several years to co1nc. Al\vnys yollr a!Tcctionate F J Child. Prof Lowell.

No letter f ron1 either Lo,veH or Child alludes to that peak of Lo\vclPs poetical endeavor~the Co1111ue1uoratio11Ode, dc]ivcrcd at the special n1cn1orial exercises held by 1-Ia.r'vardfor its ,var dead z 1 July· 1865. But a record lcf t by Lo"Tel]n1any years 1atcr j5 so a ptl}r il]ustra- tivc of the re]ation bct,vccn the scho]ar-fricnds that it may ,vell find a p]acc here:

1""he ode itself ,vas an impro\Tjsation. T,vo days before the Commemoration I h~d to]d n1y f dend Child that it ,vas impossib]e that I ,,•as du1l as a door-mat. :But the next day sotncthing gave me a jog and the ,vholc thing came out of me vdth a rush. I sat up all night ,.vridng it out _clear.,and took it on the 111orning of the day to Chi Id~ "I have so1ncthing~ but don~t yet kno,v ,vhat jt isi · or ,vhether it ,viH do. Look ~t it ~nd tell me." He ,vent n little \\'ay apart ,vith it under an clln tree in the C~ollege yard. He rend a p:1ss-agchere and the.re, brought

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Harvard [-,library Bulletin

it back to nm) an

1\ photograph of I~o\vell~taken r 865 or 1866 ~."tEln1,vood by \V' ..J- Stilhnan, is sho\vn in Plate IV. It is reproduced from a print ,vhich once belonged to Oliver \\'cndcll Holn1cs and is no\v in the Harvard Archives. · The next t,vo letters, both front Lo,,,.ell, arc inserted in special, Iargc~papcrcopies, dated 1·867, of Tbe Biglow Papers, Secoud Series and Tbe Riglo·1vPapers (first series) respectively (both volurnes pre 7 se-nted to the Child l\-1emorjalJ.;ibrary at I-Jarvard by j\1r Gilbert Campbell Scoggin) .. The for1ner volun1e is inscribed 'To F. J~Child, ,vith the author~s loye, i 5th Jvlay) 1867 .'~ and has on the verso of the title-page, also in l_.o\vclFshandi ~T,velvc copies pdnted on Jarge paper J. R4l..r~ Nun1ber 24 '; the latter volun1e has n1ereJ)7 '"f o F J. C. ,vith the love of J. R. L. 1867 +t 'The history of these large-paper Biglows h~s rcn1nincd obscure. Chan1bcrlnin and Livingston in their ·bibJiogrnphyof Lo\"velltake no note of a large-paper first series, ilnd attribute a1l three copies kno,vn to thcn1 to the second series (Longf cllo,v and Nor ton copies at Harvard) Aldrich copy jn the library of Thon111s Bailey A_ldrich)_:iij Actual1y, only tl\'"O copiesof each series have at present been traced~ nll nt 1-Inrvard: Aldrich and Child copies of the first series and Child and Longf cHo,v copies of the second series_;there 1s no record that a Norton copy of either .series,vas ever at I.Jarvard~ The Chi]d copies of the t,vo volun1es are il1ustrated in Plate "\1. Th c 'cop)"' of Sir T... aun far for 1VlrsChild ,vould havc been of the edition illustrated by· S. Eytinge, Jr, dated 1867 but Icady as curly as N ovenlher J 8664 · In the_second ]ettert JJo\vell alludes to Child"s epoch-making 'Ob- servationson the J..,anguagcof Chaucer,' com1nunicatcdto the An1erican Acade1ny of Arts and Sciences 3 June 1862 and printed in \Tolun1e

u Lo,vcll to Richard V:.'ntson Gilder, r6 Janl]ary rS86t in Letters of J1r1uesRus-sc/1 Lowell,.· ed. C. E+ N carton (Roston, 19[>4), l Ir.. 149. This and folJo\ving quotation~ f ro1n t l1c Letter .s nt·c pr j n tcd '-''j ti 1 ti te "ki I Hl pc n l Iisst un of the pu Llishers, Houghton, lvlimin and Co1np:iny. . L'I J. C. Chan1bcrl::i.in (assisted by- L. S. Livingston),. A Bjb/iogrnpby of tbe First Editions in Book Fornl of the TVritings of J,unes Russell Lowell (1'rc,v York, i9r 4 )t p. 77..

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) The Scbolar-Frie11ds 151 VIII ( 1863), ne,v series~of the A1euroirsof the Acadc:n1y(a fe,v pre- prints being available for private distribution in Scptc111bcr r 862). This paper of Child's has been regarded as the foundation of 1nodcrn Chauccri an scholarship.

Caro mio CiarJi~ I at last ·return your ' 1F3hliaux.)' I fea.r I should hardly have reached this pitch of virtue) had I not succeeded in buying n nice copy ,vhich I found in Penington ts Catalogue at Z12 - full bound in old calf. Not dear? I \Vishto subscribe for three tickets to the 11arlorconcerts. I do not kno,v ,vhether I told you that the reason you have hrtd no copy-of Biglcnv ir.;that 1 a1nprinting t,vcJ_vccopies on large paper of ,vhich you arc do\vn for one. I enc Jose a copy of Sir J... aunfn1 for your ,vif c, The cuts are horrible - bnt the print good. . · ahvays tf ect1onately yours J~R. L.

Elnnvond: j\1onclay [9 Deccn1bcr? l 866] Carissi n1o m io Ciarlit I enclose a check for three tickets to the concerts. I hope to hear the next one. ·rhe ]arge-papcr R. P.s arc printing again & you ,vill have one soon. I an1 glad to sec those John Ilu1ls ,vaking up at last to your scholarship.. 1 I hope they ,vill pjrate your Chaucer i Ren1arks'J & put_ them in a handier shnpe.. nff c ctionatel y yoll rs a1 ,vn ys J. ll. l.r. i.Thc con1pact go]d & vio1ct brick of a" bool,J in the letter by· Child ,vhich follo,vs is c1early the l3rgc-papcr Biglow, Seco11d Series, "~hich Lo,vcll inscribed to Child 2 7 j\ 1lay· 1 8?7. ·l"'hc description and tin1e ]apse fit perfectly, and f urthcr identification is afforded h)T Chi]dJs reference to '])osipeer.s.,' the tvvclvc paladins (Douzepers) of Charlen1a.gnc~corresponding to the t,velvc prcsun1cd recipients of the minute 'edition/ Jtinnlly, both Ho\vells and Charles Godfrey Leland received the honorary degree of A.l\1..at the Harvard Comn1encement on 17 July 1867.. In E]izabeth Robins Pcnnclrs biography of ]Jeland there js not only-a letter from Lo""ell about the prospect of this a\vard but an aHusi_onto Child's invitationt \Vhich Leland could not accept, to con1e to his house at Co1111n cnccm ent ti me. lti

111 Eliz-a.bethR. Pennell, Charles- Godfrey 1-elrrnd, a Biography (Iloston, 1905 )t It 296.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) 152 H ar-vardLibrary Bulletin The first volun1e of Bishop Percyts Folio lvlauuscript ,vas likc,visc issued in 1867. Chjld had been chiefly·responsible for the final grant~ ing by the o,vncrs of permission to print (follo,ving at least t,vo in- effectual efforts), and the published ,vork ,vas dedicated to hi1n by the editors, J. ''-'. I-Iales and F. J..F urni \Tall.,in the f ollo,ving tcr1ns: 'Dedicated to Professor Francis Jan1es Child.,of Harvard University,

i\1assachusetts,l,T. S. at ,vhose instigation1 and to relieve Engljsh anti~ quarians fro1n ,vhose rcpr~achcs (too ,vcl_ldeserved,) this ,v·ork ,vas first undcrta ken.>

Sunday, 2 2 [ i~e., 2 3 ] June. [ 1 8 6 7] J\.fy dear Friend, The con1pact gold & vioJct brick of a book has been repronching 111c aU but a month £or not .sending thanks for it. I haYe been trusting to gay deceiving hopes of coming to Elm,v·ood and talking over the book. But Lizzie hnd to take to her hcdt the very day- ~fter it can1c5 I think, and there she has rcn1aincd, and I· not far off .. - \.,.ou kno-\v very ,ve11 hu,v n1uch I dcEghr in the book & in having any book of yours straight from you; to be one of the Dosipeers ,vho get hct\\'ccn them the ,vhole edition gratifies I kno,v not ,vhnt. of the ,vjckcd Adan1 in n1y henrt. I fear it ,vill

be a Jong ,·vhile, n1ore than one lifc-time 1 before I have anything of any sort to :sendback 0 ur representations in b chalf of 1-Jo,ve l ls& Leinn d n re to bc su cccs.i;;fult judging from an inquiry of the President abot1t rniddlc nan1cs. Of course the secret is to be profoundly kept. I should ask Leland ro con1e on & stay ,vith me at Cornrncnccn1cnt tin1e ,vere Lizzie to be out of her bed. He ,vill enjoy a con1plin1ent f ron1 Harvard very n1uch and though I fancy-he has to dig for a living could .spare n fe,v days. Ir ,vjl] he plensant to let the Phila

very ostentatious conccaln1cnt1 ,vhich if it ever con1cs in your ,vay I ach'ise you to put up the chin1ncy ( ,vhere it ,vill. be in its elen1ent) or into ·the firc-,vhere the authors no doubt a.re!! They are just as dirty as they can be, and I mn glad that I -am not particu]arly responsible for their COlll tng OU t. I hope to see you soon and to see i\1rs. Lo,vell ,veil. I feel n1uch interest in your cnbbagcs. You need to look[?} to them to keep }rourself pntctical enough for life - but ,vhat should I be if I culti-vatedthat sort of thing? Your loving F~ J. C.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) The Scholar-Friends ,1 53 [Attached is a clipping of a nc,vspapcr account of the robbery of a clergy- n1an; to this Child has appended the ,vord '\~lilbur? ,~ no doubt alluding to the Reverend Homer ,~Vi1bur,"editor' of The Biglow Papers.]

There follo\VS a letter assigned tentatively· to 1867 on the basis of the \Vatcrrnark4 The scholar-£riends at ,vork.

Eln11vood, Thursday [ 1867?] Carissin10 Ciar 1i I knc\v I should find it: cccoio C]Ua!l{night's Ta1c '.'pitous& pitouslyt1 ! ''i\1olt hauten1cnt i .fist venir L' Ampereriz f et] 11 A1npereres~ l ...1 f1itezRoisi li pitex pcn~s D 'ax hen orcr f u molt engranz, Possessionslor dona granz."' Ilarbazan & l\1eon i. 3 30.

You ,vill readily see Ly the context that pitex 1nust n1ean pioushere. 1'he J(ing had co1ne to honor the arrival of .sonic corsainzat Soissons & the n.\1

& Ior ref er to tl:u!7n not to gent nu111u e ju st ab oye L i\1an of Lj\vJs Tale: such rhyn1es rts ~\vound hidl~,vcrc co1nmon (& not co1nic). Dante has a fe,v. ]n the san1c poc1n Barb. & l\16on i. 274)

'~LaSein tc \Ti rgc Le oca de; En soupirant Ii dist, o, qu,a de 1 Douceur ' &c.

l\1. of L. ts Tale "~him& her."

''Ne les loanges qu,a Dicx [Deu] fircnt Et Cil ct cclcs qui cc vircnt/'

i.e~both men & ,vo1nen. (Same page of B. & i\-1.)

No\v for Hnailcd.n

En son poig tint un fort espi~ quarrey av clos d' or le conf enon f ermey

Girard of Viane z.164-5 r (In llekk·er's Fierabras).

It ,vould sccn1here as if f er111ey1.vere for fer111ait but it probably js not.

2117 En son puig prist un roit cspi~for Li ·A v clos d'or le con f enon assis.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) I 1 54 Harvard Library Bulletin Unhappily the fenuey & arsisare rhymes But, at any ratct here is a use for n2i]s. For the Maris astez.eror ateser I guess Tyr,vhitt 1nay be right: 0~ i\1:arsjO atfrour, from atiser..

Mars presided over ovcns 1 furnacest &c from his fiery property. affectionately always J. R ..L.

A n1assby the young musiciant John l(no\vles Paine 1 for many later

years a distinguished professor of n1usic at Harvard 1 ,vas performed first in Berlin in , 867, nnd again in Boston jn the spring of 1868r ChildJs endeavor to enlist support for the young Paine is typical of a ]if e~ 1 o ng con ccrn for pron1 ising scholars and artists. Eq ua11 y· typical is Lo,vcll Js rca d y rcspon se~ The opening ljnes of Child's Jetter suggest that it n1ay ha,rc been ,vrittcn on Lu\vell"s birthday·.,February 2 2~ Conununication on this day bcca1ne traditional \\-~ith Child :lS the y·cars advanced.

[22 February? 1868] l\1y dear Boy, You 11::1.vehad time to gro,v up since I sa,v you last., but you cant do it because you are a poet. I hear ,vfrh grief that your ,vif e has·not been ,vcll. Please give her n1y lov·e & syn1pathy. ,,,hat I ,vrile for 110\v i~, tu ask y-ou if you dont ,vant to encourage Paine to bring out his i\1ass - ,vhich he had perforn1cd in Berlin lnst ,vinter ,vjth tnuch success+ "\\Te ought not to let ~u highmindcd & acco1npiishcd a f ello\v droop for ,vant of appreciation at hon1e.. It 111:iy turn out that he has genius by and Ly~ talent hat er ganz bcdcutcnd. If you , vill sign the pap er 1 , vill send it to son1e ·111usic-1nad people j 11 Boston, & then to Paine and in t,vo or three n1onths I think the rv1as:s,v-jll be f orthcon1ing. I ,vant Patne to make a little n1oney by the pcrf onnance, if possib]e, for he hus spent t\VO or three thousand do1lars on this piece. Ev er yon r affec ti on-ate CiarlL

EJn1)voodi [February~ 1868] Caro rnio.! I sign ,vith both hands. Fanny sta megHo. You are a good boy to have thought of this for Paine & I hope it lvi11con1c to so1nething. Ever your affectionate J. R. L.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) The Scbolar-Frieuds 1 55 The 'Go,vee in the next Jetter refers to Child1s paper on the lan- guage of Go\vees ConfessioAnzautis, delivered before the American }\caderny of Arts and Sciences 9 January 1866.,:HHl cli~tributed pri- vately·~ in preprint formJ in the spring of 1 868, after the fashion of the Chaucer paper of 1862. In the present ca.sethe pertinent voll1meof the ..~-ien1oirs of the Academy did not appear until 1873.

Carjssimo mio Ciarli! I co1ne on the ,vings of love to111orro,v evening- & Fanny also if ,vell enough. · Thank you a thousand time.~ for the Go,vcr. If J learn half us n1uch fron1 it as fron1 the Chancer, I shall be greatly indebted to you~ -asI am glad to be. But the t\VO ought to be printed in a handy, & above all accessiblevolulnet & I think ,ve could find enough subscribers. al\vays a!Tcctionatcly yours Lavelli.

Lo\ve1J's daughter l\-1abcl(,vho became l\1rs Ed\vard Burnett in _1872) ,vent abroad ,vith 1\1r and j\1rs Jan1e~1~ .. Fields in the spring of 1869. In vie,v of this., and the 1nention of Saturday in conjunction ,vith f "'o,vell'sbirthday, the f ollo,ving Jetter n1ay-be dated ,vith some confidence.

[ 20 ii--ebruary1869]

Deliciac A·feae l Nothing shall keep n1c fro1n the celebration of the ·ripening of your youth. Come of age you never ,vill. ,l\1hen the other ha]f of your ado]cs- cence shall have expired I slu1llgive the party n1yseif. It ,vill be fun to see ho\Y your conten1poraries have outgro\\'~ you. I note your rtd,Ticeabout the donlev .. That is nor the key to "rhich ,vc \vill set our chant+ 1 1 he other- night J had sonic talk- ,vith l\1abcl at j\1iss Ashburner's -The f rcshcst l\1ay she is J l.::no,v of. I proposed to her to pfay .son1etin1c in - As Yon J.... ikc Tt, (she to he the heroine~) but I think I ca1led Ro.~alind Orlnndo~ Tell her, if I did, that I never ,vantcd to see her "i-rcstling. I h~d for- gotten that Rosnlind had to appear in doublet & hose- ,vhich she thought an objection, of course. It ,vas after she had gone a,·vay that it occurred to inc I 1nighr have said Orlnndo. I am sure that there is much in your lovely daughter that ,vould co1ne out in a good play., ,vcrc she once launched. I should Eke to sec her in lon. Ev er your nffect ionate Sat i\1orn Ciarli

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) llar·vard l~ibrary Ru/letin I hear t hnt l\1. is going to Europe jn April. I-Io,v I ,vish you & i\·1rs. Lo,vell could take her. ltupossible?

The cfforts on heh~1 f of Prof cssor Corson suggested in the f o1lo\Y- ing letter seen1 to have born fruit ,vith a s\viftness un\vOnted jn either academic or publishing circles, if CorsonJs liffudbook of Anglo-Sa:ron nnd Early Englisb (Ne\v Yorlc Holt.& '''jlliams, J 871) is to be identified ,vith the 'JJ ictionary·of Old English.7

j\ 1y dear J~mes 1 Do you object to saying a \Vord or t,vo in favor of that Dictionary of Old English by Prof Hiran1 Corson for ,vhich ,ve have nll subscribed? It hangs fire o,ving to the ,vant of enterprise or tncans of l\Icssrs Lcypold & I-Jolt~ Corson ,vrote n1c lnst ~August th:1t they proposed to get out one nurnber, about a fifth of the ,vho]c, by the first of Dccctnbcr, and asked n1e to ,vrite hin1 a reconnnend & get some gentlemen of consequence to sign jr, ) have been guiky of the most shameful procrastination,. a vice ,vhich I find by pracricc to be as bad as it is said to be in the copy books. You thjnk ,veil of Corson, 1 thin1{ & have proLably seen a .specin1cnof the Djct1onary. l t js to be n regular thesaurus of old English "~ithin certain lin1its)and ,ve have nothing of the kind. Just send 1ne then a fc,v lines expressing (to Prof I-Jira1nCorson) a desire rh at rhc ,vork n1ay go on & a conviction that it ,vjll be \vell received (if you have such a convictiont as I have) and you ,viH perhaps helpt cer~ainly please, a very good scholar & \vorthy 111an~ Ev-eryour loving f ricn d F CiarH I shall \vrite a note tnyself, & get C~E. N. to do so.

I J...,o-\veJl'sarticle on Chaucer~ published in the July 1870 issue of the North A1nerica11Review (ostcnsib]y as a revie\v of three recent books), ,vas sent to Child for criticisn1 be.forerep11b]icatio1) in L,o,vc1rs third vollln1e of essays, il1y Study Tfii11dows(Boston~ January 1871). An cxan1in:-1tionof the essay as repubJi~hed shov/Sth~t Lo,vel1 adopted certain of Child's suggestions \vhile pa.ssing over others. Thus, the Icvision suggested for p. J 5 8 has been carried out, the note about the non-Chauccrian pocn1s has been altered, and a .sentencehas been added to render less dark the delicious fun about the !-iecuriryTof ,vorncn~ On the other hand, the tribute to Child on p. 160 has not been n1odified~ and the limiters rcn1ain unsoci-al. l\1ost j111portanr, Child's strong]y urged arg11n1cntthat Chaucer is after al1a dran1atic poetl in spite of

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) TbrJ Scbo.lar-Frie11ds 1 57 Lo,Yell's position to the contrary, has had no visible effect~ And, finally, there is no n1ention of Ten Brink~sbook, suggested by· Child in his footnote.

Saturday Dec Io [ l 87 o] Dear Jan1ic As I said the other n igI 1 t, your Chaucer rtrt icle sccn1s to n1c one of your best I have next to nothing to suggest, as you ,vill see.

p. 158 I should revise the quotations by the Six. Text. the 2 d line of Fly frotn the pres~ is better read in another copy Suffice tbe t/Jy good. p. 1 59 It ,vas Bradsha,v "~ho suggested to 1ne that those poems ,vcrc not Chaucer•s - {nan1cly Court of Love, Cuckoo & Nightingale~ Flour & Leaf.~ Dreamt Rom. of the llose, Con1playnt of Lover's 1..-ifc,Praise of YVorncn& half a ·dozen small pieces) *also doubted by Tyr\vhitt {You ,vjll of course, for the f net is not stated [?] ) I " 1Jsh you ,vo1l1d~lter t/Jat note & strike out on p. 160 ~\vho has done n1orc'J &c~ I am content to have ' 1fitting lyt' rcnrn.in jf you think it should, but that is quite enough flattery for tne. 182 ,vhy call the limiters 1n1social? (They go nbout in pairs until they bave been 50 years under rule, & then they n1ay ,valk alone, C. T. 7 444) f hey scc1n to have heen sociable to ti fa ult. 1-hc delicious fun about the security of ,von1cn ,vhere frfo.rsnre thick is alluded to by you rather tao darkly to be undcrstuo

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) Harvard J_jhrary Bulletin I J1ave never seen anything to con111are,vith your setting forth of the Jnan Chaucer & you have left nothing for anybody else to add. IIo,v I ,vish I could have ,vritten jr for a first Jccture! Your affectionate Ciarli

You had b~ttcr put in the title of Ten ·Brin~'s book & look the book over bcf ore you princ

j\.rf.A~ Dr-:Vi' OJ,"FE J-f0\VT, G. ,,,~ Comn~r.. L1 JR

(To be contiuued)

I I - I

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951) List of Contribtttors

l\1. A. DF.lVoLFE Ho,vE 1 Boston, 1\1.assachusctts

G~ W~ Col'llIBLL~ JR~Editor in the Harv·ard University Library

1-IENRY ]. CADBURY., l{ollis Professor of Dh 1 inity- nnd Dexter J_,ecurrer on Bib] ica l Li tcra tu re-. I-I ar~la rd Uni vcrsi qr, and D j rec tor of the Ando vcr- I-1a rva rd 1 ·heo lo gj cal J.,ib raty

CAROLI::iE ~OBBIN~ 1 Professor o~ I&Iistory,Bryn i\.ia,vr College

PHILIP I-ioFER,L~cturcr on Fine Arts, Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts in the CoHcgc Library, and Sccren~ry of the Ul'Hli:arnHayes l~"ogg Art

-~'i uscun1 j Harvard University K:r,vEsD~ lVIETCALF~Professor of Bib]iogra.phy, Director of the 1-Iarvard Uni- versj ty Library. and Li bra.rian of I-'iarvard Co llcgc

~~n,v1N }:~ \\ 11LI.TA~1~1 Chief of the Accpiisition Depattn1ent of the 1-Inrvard Co I legc Library

~- E. GALLA1'JN~ ~e,v: "\'"ork Ciqr L. i\1. OL1v·ER,AssishHlt to the Librarian jn the Hnughton Library, I·Iarvard University

\\Tr GT CoNSTAU.LE, Curator of Paintings! i\1useum of line Arts, Boston

RoDNF.Y AL IlAlNJ.\ Associate Professor of EngJi.,h,University of Richmond

CARL R.. Wooon1NG, Instructor jn EngJish, University uf \Viscunsin

RonERT \\'. T~OVF.TT, H c~ulof the iV1anuscri pt Divis1on 1 Baker Library, Harvard University

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume V, Number 2 (Spring 1951)