'That delightful man': A study of Frederick Locker (continued)
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Citation Bates, Madison C. 1959. 'That delightful man': A study of Frederick Locker (continued). Harvard Library Bulletin XIII (2), Spring 1959: 265-291.
Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37363729
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II In his o,v11day· I""ockcr,v.as accorded \vidc recognition as a n1an of letters~ despite the smaliness of his output. Of the books that bore his name four appeared in his lifetime: London J.... yrics ( 1857 ), Lyra Ele- gantian,111( 1867 )., Patchwork ( 1879), and the First Ro,vfant Cata- logue ( 1886). Published after his death ,verc A1y Confidences ( 1896), the Second Ro,vfant Catalogue ( 1900), and I)atcbwork, Second Series
( 192 7) i In this list the only volumes of original composition are Lon-
d ou Lyrjcs and the posthumous A1y Co11fide11ces1 the other five being com pi]ations. Thus Locker's contcn1 porary reputation as an author \l'a~ based on a single ,vorkt a book of verse. And that one ,vork, London Lyrics, contained in its fir.st printing only t\venty·-six:pocms.ij 8 The popularity thjs slender volume enjoyed is a.tna~ing. \~Tith n1an}7 additions and revisions and ,vith a fe,v varia- tions ju its title it ,vent through before Lockeris death some thirt)T printings, abo~t a third of them in Amcrica_u~ After the \vritcr's death only three editions appearedJ none of them 1atcr than 1909. 1"'hc peak of the vogue carne in the 186o'st 1870 1s, and 1880,s. This is ,vorth not- ing, sinec in these decades there ,vas in England a ren1arkable galaxy
of ,vrilcrs of light verse: among othcrs 1 Dobson, Lear, Calverley, Thackeray., Le\vis CarroJIJ and ,,,. S. Gilbert. I{o\v far Locker lVas sin1pl)ra beneficiary of the \Ti~torian flo,vcring of this poetic genre and hov.,rfar he exerted an influence upon it can hardly be clctermincdt hut one may· question ,vhether any of the verse ,vriters just mentioned
l'L~ P L1bli:sh rd Ly Cha pma n 'J nd Ha U, ,~tith a f ron tispi ecc by George Cr uiksh an Tu:+ m It is al n10:st in1po~sihlc to s~y ,vitl, precision \v hat the tot-J l nu Lnb er of editions
wis. For sornc jdca of the co1npkxitics involved1 see 1\1rs Luther Livingston's 'llibli- ography of the \Vorks of F. printed in Volun1-c X of Tbe Dook- -n:anisJournal and l>rintCollector, London, 19:24 (1\1~)\ Junci Jnly~~nd August). As 1 uf th c d 8te of its puLlica tlon 1 1\-lrs Li vi ngston s listing of Locker "'spri nrcd \Vur ks is
apparently complete 1 ,vi th the 5 i ngl c cxccptio n of th c nven ty-~even-page p am ph 1et
Me111oriesof J\f ent Placesf and Things, ca. 1894, described bclo,v, p. i 71+ One com- pil~tion bearing Locker 1s name appeared later than .J\1rs:Livingston~s listing~ Patr-b- worki Second Series ( 1917). described on page 273 below. 265
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Har:vardLibrary Bulletin
\Vas at the tin1c 111orc,vidcly read. In any event~ Locker held a pron1-
incnr place in this flunrcring, and ,vell represents 1 horl1 in his poetry and jn his manner of ]ifc, the \ 1ictorian sophistication~ the leisure for the an1enitiesof gracious living, and the sense of security and pcrn1ancncc that permitted light verse co flourish. Locker's poetry· is no bad n1irror of cultivated Vjctorian London. It evokes not only the out\vard scene but the· feeling of an age that no,v seen1s remote and unreal - in such poc1ns as 'St. Jarncs's Srrece (,vhere ~the crops of dandies bud and oloom''); 'llottcn Ro,v' CAnd ,vhcn I ride in Rotten Ro,,\ / I ,vonder ,vhy thc)r caH"dit so'); and ,CPiccadillyr~('Shops, palaces, bustle, and breeze, / The ,vhirring of ,v hcc ls, and th c n1u n11 ur of trees") . D) 7 im plication and som crimes di- rc c tly it presents also an engaging picture of \'ictorjan fan1ily life. Indeed, son1e'of the verses on children, particu]arly his o,vnJ arc among his 1nost suc~cssful. Thus in 'An Old Buffer' he tells of ,valking home from church and acting as a 1ncdiator bct\veen ~n1yorthodox ""\1/ifcand my sceptical Child' and finding the lattces questions hard to deal ,vith. For n sy1npathetic.:reader the grace of t.A-lthyn1e of One,' celebrating year one of the life of his elder son Godfrey, out\vcighs its sentimental- ity; the same is trne of 'J--'ittleDinky- A llhyn1e of Less than One~ in praise of his t\vclve-,vecks-o]d danghter Dorothy; and ,vhen the
nvins 1 01ivcr and l\1aud1 arrive, 'T\VO mouths, t\VO noses, and t\VO chins/ he sumn1ons his friend l(ate Grcena,vay: Come, Limner J(are! for you can thri11
0 ur hearts , vi th pink and daffodil 1 And ,vhite rosette, and dimpled frill; Con1c,paint our little Jack and Jill, And don1t be long about it.
Such verses serve to remind us that sorne of Locker's Iyrics are not vers de societe. Along ,vith the lightly gallant pieces like (Gcrtrudc"s Glo,,.e' and 'An Old l\,IufP are ·pocn1s that arc ,vholly serious: 'The Unrealized Ideal/ ~At Her \\ 1indo,v,' 1:Thc Cuckoo/ 'Inchbae,' a.nd the lines 1Tu I\1y Old Friend Pusturnus/ ,vith jts n1otto (taken from 211car Iier and discard cd p ocn1) : A11d,like yon clotke, w/Jen t•welvcsbal/c sound To call our soulcs a-way, 1"'-ogetber1nay our bauds be fo1111d,. Au enrnest that we prnie.
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'T bat DeUgbtful AJan~ There is, indeed, a ,vide variety of mood. A fevvof the pocn1s~such as 'A Terrible Infant,' are purely comic; ,vit and 1111obtrusiveirOll) 7 per- v~de a good many; satire js rare and never bitter; of sentirnentality and n1oralizing there is too n1uch but Jess than in 1nany of his contc1npo- raries. '~'ith respect to the \ 7ictorian vice of diffusencsst Locker con1es off, by co1nparison, so ,veU that one ,vonders ,vhy he seldom tried his hand at cpigrarns ..t;O A c~n tc1np orary vie\ v of Lock er' s sp cci al q u2l itics j~ nearly sun1marizcd bJ7 a caricature daring fro1n 1872 sho,vn in Plate v.Gl
If one judges the verse of J... ocker in the Jight of ,vhat he atten1pted 1 ren1cmbcringthat he deliberately· esche,ved any effort at profundity·, n1uch is to be .saidfor it. It has a high degree of technical co1npetence~ it has elegance, grace, clarity·, and idion1atic case of language; it flo,vs f rcely and ,vjth seeming spontaneity; and it has the flavor of his O\vn
individuality. Why·, then, have these poems1 once so ,videly adnlired, lost 1nuch of their appeal? The question is not easily ans,vcrcd. The enormous changes in taste that the turbulent nventieth century has ,vrought must be taken into account; Locker's 0\Vn lack of faith in the endnring vit:tlity of his verse may be reflected in it; and the fact ~hat he ,vas overpraised in his o,vn day should be remembered. But perhaps the ans,vcr is 1nainly to be found in a certain tenuousncssi 2 lack of gusto~ an insu:fficicn~y of the verve that inheres in the best light verse. Students of this type of poetry and of ,Tictorian social history ,vill ahvays find J..,oudonJ..,yricr \vorth their attention, but ,vhether the hook ,~tinever again be ,videlJ"read is another matter. The anthology Lyra Elega11tiar1n11,1867, 3ddcd son1cthing to Lock- er's repu ta ti on as a 1nan of 1cttcrs and cost l~itn n1 u ch lab or.. Believing
ro London Lyrics contains various lines and single stanzas that have an epigram-
matic turn 1 but they are cn1bcddcd in Jongcr poe1ns. The-re is ahnost nothing by way of separate cpignun, An1ong the unpuhEshc:d Locker n1anu5criptsin the 1-larv·atd Col Iegc Li bra ry is a tru c c pig ram: For Lord Houghton i\1:y book! 1ny Fric:ndshipt Lyric Brother; One keep~hut pl case return d1c oth c r F L-1... er In Once tt 1V eek~ 7 September 1871, p. 1 [I~ -Acco1npanyingan anonyrnous fouda- tory- nrticle on Locker>s poetr;v; reproduced here fro1n a copy of Once a J!Teek in the Ya 1e U nh.Tersity·Li bra ry, \vith kind pennis:sion. The picLu re ,,T~s c:ngra vcd Ly "\V. J. YV cl ell I but the atti st \V ho d re,.\.~it h:as not been identified. r h c 1in cs q uotcd ar the bottom arc from 'Advice to Poet' (London. Lyrics,. I904~ p. [58). The fifth edition of London Lyricr \Vas puhlished in 187i. I Iar\·ard has copies of t\vo speda1 i~ue~ of this edition, prtnted in tvr'e1Ye cop1es cachL
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Harvard Library Bulleti11 it to he the first collection of light verse ever to appear in England, he \\rent through an enormous 1nassof poetry fro1n the mid ...sixteenth cen- tUI)i on,vard and undertook to ,vinno\"vfroni it 'nearly all the vers de societe of re.al 111critin the English language.' 0~ The first printing con- tained 40 poems of Landor~ far 1norc than those of nny other author. Unfortunately, John Forster, ,vho held the Landor copyright~ refused to sanction their inc]usion, so the ,vork \Vas repub]ished the same year, as .cane,·v and revised edition,' \Vitl1 the necessary 01nissions. 6 ~ Although it had a favorable press~no Jater English printjng of it ,vas 111adetill 1 R9r, ,vhen Locker, ,vith tl1e a.ssistanceof his friend Coul"on I{ernahan, brought it out in a revised and enlarged edition (including 38 of the Landor poen1s) the version that becan1estandard .. 61 In this final form it is a volume of 389 pages, plus a 10-page preface and 35 pages of indexes and notes. It contains-435 poe1nsby 168 assigned :1.utl101·sand 41 labeled 'U nkno,vn.~ It excludes., ho,vcvcr, ,vritcrs still living; and the editor records his regret tbat he n1ust -therefore omit Tenny·son, Dobson, Langl ""\1\1• s. Gilbertt Le\vis Carron, Bert I-Iartet Lolw.rcl1, IIohncs (,vhorn he considered the best living ,vritcr of light verse on either side of the Atlantic)., and n fc\v othcrs.65 After Landor, the authors fron1 ,vhom he took the largest number of poen1s1 ranging fron1 20 do,vn to 7, arc Herrick, Prior., Co\vper, l\1oore, Pracd, Hood~
Thackeray, S,-vift1 Co]eridge,-and Pope. Calverley, ,vhon1 I,ocker held in high rcgnrd~ did not appear in the edition of 1867 because he ,vas then living; and in the edition of 1891, seven years after his death, he is rep re sen te d b) only· three pieces, beca use C:1.lvcr 1C) 7 t s publishers ,vould not pcrn1it the editor to use n1ore. Locker \Vrote for his book a.brief and excellent preface. Poetry of
m P.ref ace to 1...yraElegantiarmJ1 ( 1667 ),. P~ ).'Y+ Locker see.ms- to hav·e consadeted the tenns ~vers-de soci et e i' 'occ::i sion.t l v crsc/ ~light ,rerse/ 'Jnd csoc.~ialv~ rsci s i ntcr- changeabic+ ~These [ 867 cdj tions ,:vere pu bHshed liy Ed\\1ard A·foxon & Co. 011e of the three l ·larvard co pies of the first edi tio n hRs c,Tery leaf containing a L:Indor poem n ea tiy sfashed. ·
iM. ·rhe o.ri ainal English edition 1 ,v ith the suppre.s~cdpoems, had meanwhile b ecn reproduced N cv,.-·{ o rk in 18 84 by '\~lhi tc, Stokes & AJlen (second prh~ting i_n 188"6). The EngHsh edition n-f I S-91·was pub1i.shed by lVanlj l..-ock,.& Co. 1n their l\1 i nc.rva Li hrary of Famous Hooks; th ere ,vas al~o rt large-pa per gned issue of t 5 o copies ( of v:hich Harvard has No. 46). E.stopp~d by his 0\1,.•n chronologic=il li111itation frorn including the American poets on th i.~}jst. the co n1pj cris or jgj nal i nte ntio n u·as to inclu c.le surno An lcric:;i. n ·wrjtc.rs of an earlier date. li'or the reasons ,vhrthis pl::1ncame to nothing, see the third i 11staH men t, in tl1c account of Loe kcr 's friend sh 1p "Tith Holmes.
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbat Delightful Man') . this kjndi he s2id, has flourished best in a sophisticated .societjr; among deceased ,vritcrs its 1nost .succcsful practitioners have been" 'in the ]ib- cral sense of the expression~' n1en of the ,vorld; 'no exact line.of den1:1r- cationl' can b c dra\vn b ct\vccn it and certain other types of verse, such as pnrod)r and epigram, but it can be sufficiently differentiated if a , vor king clcfi ni tion can b c cstab lish ed. SIig ht 1y condensed, t ~1e d efini- ti on olf crcd is this~ Light verse should be shortt terse, graceful, highly .finishedt'idiomatic., and rather in the conversational key,; the rhythm should be 'crisp and sparkling'; and 'ho\vever trivial the subject-matter may be, indeed, rather in proportion to its tri vialit}T., subordination to the rules of cotnposition, and perf cction of execution~ are of the uttnost importance/ {JS For years Locker kept commonplace books into ,vhich he put ex- tracts of all sorts in verse and prose,.together ,vith some pieces and comments fron1 his o,vn pen. Sometime in the 187o's the idea occurred to him that a printed ,rolun1en1ight be based on this hoarded n1atcrial, and in 1879 such a ,vork appeared under the appropriate title of J>atcb- 67 work 4 The con1piler simply proccedc d on the th cory th at since every- thing in the volume had in1prcsscd or amused him, it might also interest readers genera 11)T. l"hc material is gleaned from ever}7 itnaginable sort of source: con- vcrsations, favorite hooks~ nc,vspapcr clippingssreminiscences, -and even
a Jittle eavesdropping 1 including a story told by an invisible stranger in a Turkish bath4 And there is endless variation of mood and of sub- ject, fron1 the highly serious to the most trifling. 68 The separate iten1s nuinbcr nearly t\vo hi;indredand fifty, of ,vhich some fifty arc poetry. Fro1n his o,vn pen he used five poems and a number of pieces of prose.
These 1attcr 9 re of n1any kinds: f ragmcnts of criti cisn1J brief essays or still briefer observations - on pets, on religious training in child- hood, on b~1llyingin schools, on prudery, hJrmns, cynics (.sometimes
M Pref ~cc to Ly Ta EI egant iarun1 ( J 891 ) 1 pp~ x-xi v. A si1nifa.r djscussion of the nature of light verse appea[S in so1ncof the later editions of l-ondon Lyrics (see the G of den Treasury cdi tlon of 1 901h pp. l 9 3- 1 96) . m Published by Sn1ith, Elder~ & Co,i ilso a large-paper issue for lncmbers of the Phi lob ib] on Society~ I-Iar \.':::ird hr-1.sa copy of the reg u 1~r i s..suein ~crihcd by Locker to R-andolph Caldccott, 16 January 1879i '-Vith a pencil-and-pen sketch by Locker i11ustra ting the 'a.Ct of prese n tad on.
I!,;; Rxam p1es of the latter extrenle include comic di a1 ogues. a conundrum, a riddle~ and a sprjnkling of puns, Locker tried his hand -also! vdth little succcssj at the retai]- ing of tall ra]es of the Amerjcan frontier,. ,,·hich he called, on p~gc 158, 'Do\vn '''est. 1
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 270 Hnrvard Library B11lletin
'very· pleasant con1pany indccd,)/CJ on ::1 fc"r of his favorite ,vritcrs (Co\vper~ Goldsn1ith, Hood, I-Iolmes)~on poetic and prose diction, on rhy1nes- if 'that captivating pair" F. C. Burnan ByTon, Shelley1 Keats, and Arnold. It n1ust be said that although· Patcbwork offers insight into the cotnpilertstaste in poetryt it is by no means a sufficient guide; judgn1cnts Locker n1n eightcenth1 Sv.rift, Prior, Steele, Fielding, Sterne~· Johnsont Bos\vcll, Gibbon, ,, oltairc, and Thorn as Paine; from the nineteenth, Coleridge, I~amb, De Quincey., the elder Hazlitt, Hood, S)7 dnc)r Srnith, Holmes, Arnold, Ruskin, S,vinburnc, Froude., and Leck) 7 - 1-Iazlittis dra\vn upon oftener than any other4 In spire of p~aise by certain of the compiler's faithful friends like Dobson, Brander l\1atthc\vs, and Coulson Kcrnahan 1 Pr1tcbworkn1ct ,~ith a cool reception. So fe,v-copies of it ,verc sold that it \\ras never reprinted. Yet rnuch of it, as I(crn ahan observed, makes delight£ul Patchwork, p. z 1 o. -:c· P«t.chwork, pp. l 03-J 05. 71 l)ntc;b-work, p. 178. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'That Deligbtf11JJinn' 271 desultor)r reading; and Birrell noted that its life \Vas prolonged by speakers and journalists for ,vhon1 it served as a reservoir out of \vhich they helped themselves to anecdotes, jests~ and stories~72 The only other v-olumcbearing J...Jockcr"'sna1nc and appearing befQre his death is the printed Est of l1israre books here referred to us the Fjrst Ro,vf ant Catalogue, of ,vhich son1cthing fo said later in connection ,vi th his book col] ect ing. l""'here ist h o\v c vc r a t,vcnty ~.seven-p:tge pa1nphlct, li1nited to .fifty copjes and no,v very rare, ,vjd1 the pro111js:- ing title of A1e'JJ1oriesof Men, Places, a11dTbings, Belongingto P(1st 1 Tiu1es~It is und-atcd1 but Yvasapparently printed in 1894. i The title is a 111isnon1cr.The booklet lists a selection of Locker's art treasures, mainly picturcst under seventy-one entries., son1ctirncs ,vith groups of items under a single nnn1ber. J\1orc than half of the entries are 1ne,rc enumerations; to the rest comments are attached, some of thc.n1 intcr- pretativet others in the nature of short accounts of ho,v he came hy ccrta in of the ircn1 s 1 , vith a f c,v rcn1in isccn c cs of his nssoc ia ti ons ,vith the artists of his day+ The single in1portant prose ,vork that Locker ,,·rote is his autobiog~ 74 raphy, A1y Co11fideuces,published in r 896, the year after his death 1 under the editorship of i\.ugustinc Birrc1LLocker ad dressed the volun1e to his dcsccndantsi but he obviousl)r hoped it 1.vould interest readers generally·. He ,vorkcd on it at various times during his ]ast fifteen ycars1 right up to the final day of his life, as has been already noted. ~o aid him in revision and prep~ration for the press he caused nvo trial copies to be printed and bound seven years before his death~ At pres- ent, as ,ve have seen., one of thc1n is at Harvard and the orher is in the possession of the Ro\vfant C]uh. 16 In these copies ~ockcr 1nade endless c1ncndations, additions, and excisions. I-Iis son Oliver gives a vivid pic- ture of his father engaged in this ,vork., supported by· a troop of acces- sor i cs inc]u ding scissors~ kn ivcs,, ,va x, ind i-a-rub ber; gu n1, 2nd va ri- co 1ore c.1paints, then inteJrupted by his mother (young Oliv-cr clinging 7 ~ Coulson Kernahr-m, I Vire .i1.fe11 and n Fool (London 1 1901 ), p. 104; llitreH1 Loe ker-L t::a1Hpsvn p. 8. ~:i The on 1r copy I ha vc seen,. or even seen lh ted, is th 3.t in. tl, e Library of Con - gress, presented to ~i-:LBuxton Forman Esq' w·ith the r-i.uthoeskind regards, Sep. 5, 1891:.~ It sccrn~ Hkd}' that Lucker ,vould fon°e, given Ruxton Fonnan a copy of the pamp hlct ·while it ,vas ~e,v. ·' By S111ith,Eld~r, & Co., ~nd in Ne,v \Tork 1 by Charles Sc.ribnc-r1-sSons. There ,vas a ;Second Edition~ by Stnith, Elder the same year, app8.rent1y,,·ithout d1~rngc of text. but no later printings:, ,~Cf. note 15 -above. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 272 Harvard Library Bulletin to · her skirts) ,virh the · ,vord that guests \.rould be arriving at any moment. As she srnoothed bis QisarJangcd ~ilver hair she found to her horror red ink 1viped through it. There ,vas tirne only for. a fc,v dc- ci~ve snips of the scissors, ~the Rape of many Locks/ the father said ,vich a.-8tealthy- smile at the boy ..7 ~ Certain passages in these trial copies arc of particular interest: those in \vhich he speaks of a frie-ndor of an episode more fully and freely than in the published book, those that record cle tails of his o,vn exper j encc 01ni t tc d f rotn it, and sketch es of friends (for cxan1plct Tennyson, S,vinburne, and Caldccott) later en- tire Iy· excluded. My Conft dances is a s ubstant~al yo lun1e of 440 pages, five times the length he originally intended. It has decided faults. As has prcviousl) 7 been said~it devotes disproportionate.space to ancestry. His childhood, too, is treated at_great length, -afact th-at is in one respect fortunate, since it gives a key to the understanding of the mature man. The book is ,veak in structure~ Even chronological sequence is but vaguely and inconsistently·111-aintaJned~ there is no clear division into chapters, and sp ccific dates are f C\V A.ssun1cd n -a.tn es of pl aces and persons are occ a- si on ally·substituted for the real oncs1 ,vithout ,varning. It is jn large n1casurc a n1cdley- of 1nemories,anecdotes~ opjnionst ch2ncc encoun- ters~ criticism, personal likes and disJi k es, and sketches of friends. Y ct the vol un1e has real n1crit. ,,, hen th c read er clo scs the book he ,vill surely feel that he has for1ncd a living picture of the man_,vh~ ,vrotc it - an insight into the thought and emotions of a very distinct person alit)r 4 Th c , vit, the lightness of touch., th at play o ve~ th c pages do not n ulli f}Tits disa nnin g hon csty. It is ,vrittcn 1 as Birrell right 1y in- sistcd.,in .castrain of almost desperate sincerity., 77 For so seu.sitiv~and rcti ccn t a man to havc \VT1 ttcn such a candid self-depiction is son1 e- thin g of an "J.chicvcrnent+Further, -asquotations in this study sho\v 1 rhc style of the book.,its individual and felicitous n1rn of phrase, its char- acter 1stic bl ending of h u n1an sympathy-,urbanity, and h un1or t carry a strong appeal. And A1y Confidences has yet another value. The long- est section (n1ore than a hundred pages) is devoted to sketches of four- teen of Lockerts contcn1porarjes, nine of thcrn ,vritcrs: Thackeray., George E1iot, G. H. Le,vcs, D ickcns~ Trollope, l~eigh Hunt~ Carl)7 Jc, Hay,vard., and IGnglakc. Locker's con1mcnts, anecdotest and criticisn1 based on these authors -are of unusual ,vorth both because they are in- "::AC Ot'IJ !:Jill,Lt 76-JS~ -::vBurdl, I...,ncker-Ltr111pro1t,p. 4. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'That Deligbtf111 Man' 2 73 trinsica 11y perceptive and b ccau sc hc hnd personal asso cintion, son1e- ti 1nes intimate association,,vith every one of them. These sketches arc first-hand portrayals by a highly discerningmind; and to thc1n should be added the n1any f rag n1en tary personal or critical allusions to ,v ri tcrs · and artists sprinkled every,vhere through the pages of the book. Locker's nan1e 1sattached to t,vo other posthumous publications: the Second _Ro,vfant Catalogue ( 1900)., discussed hereafter, and Patch- work, Secoud Series ( r927 )~ The latter has a preface by Philip Darrell Shcrn1an 7 s and an introductory note by Birrell. It bears the imprint of the Ro,, ..f ant Club and ,vas limited to nvo hundred copies. The Club ]lad con1e into possession of a notebook -and a portfolio of detached leaves, a.bout t,vo hundred and fifty pages all told, ,vrittcn in Locker"s hand~ tied into a bundlet -and marked by him: ~These are ,vhat I put together for another series of uPatch,vork4"" The 192 7 volume is n1ade up of this materia],, and nearly all of Locker's selections ,vere used. Though shorter than the originalPatchwork, this second onn1i1nn gat!Jer111JJdiffers fron1 it jn no essential ,vay4 Five poc1ns by Locker arc jncludcd, the only one to ,vhich he attached his initials being the gay Jines ~For lvlrs. Langtry' - spoken of belo-\v. It is pleasant to note that there -a.reexcerpts from four Arnerican authors: Harriet Beecher Sto,ve, ''- 1hittier, Thoreau,. and l\1ark T,vain, one of those frorn the last-nan1ed reading: '!vlark T\vain, the A1nerican hun1ourist,. \Vriting on History'! says - "The information t11at the Greeks and Ro1nans didn't - ti ' ""fl h ave , vas very vo 1u1n 111 o us. 1 III A.5prcvj ou sly no tc d, th c co 11ectin g i1npulse ,vas so n111cha tradition atnong Locker's forebears that he ,vas perhaps foreordained to per- petuate it. Unless in a tentative \vay, it did not come into play, hff\1:/- cvcr, t1nti] immediately· after his first n1arriagc,and then, in the first instance 1 -asa by-product of his, and his ,vifc"sl desire to equip the home on Ch ester Street \Vi th uttra c ti ,Tefurnishings. so I bought ancient f urni- 78 Book co11 cc:to r i ,:vrj tcr I prof cs~or of English t OL erlin Co] lege, died 195 7 + Patchwork: 1 Seco}ld Series, p. I 07, For the locating of 1\-1-arkT1.vain.'s ,vor-ds, from Chapter VU of Tbe l1111ocentsAbrmrd, 1 an1 jn.deuted to :i\.1r Gordon '''~ Th:a.yer.. The quotation is slightly inaccurate-; where Loe ker has the GrcGks and Rom~ ns' the original reads ~the a ncic nts. i Edn1und Gos5e ·wrote in Books on the Table (London, r921 ), p. 171, that most of Lo ckcr 's books from the early periods of English Iiteraturc were acq uir-cd ,v hen Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 2 74 Harvnrd Library Bulletin tu re.,Louis-Seize g j 01cracks, chin a, and curiosities, also a f e, v pi c ces of old silver.' '8i After a tin1e his interest ,vidcncd. 'Ai111inghigher., I grad- uaily secured a fe,v typical dr~nvingsby· the great n1astcr.sof the Ren~is- sancc, and three or four little oil-pictures ... also t\vo or three fine illun1inations ~nd son1e rare sixteenth-centut) 7 engravings. But .... co1lectors ,vith long purses cro\vdcd into the n1arkct,up ,vent the priccst my innocent pleasures and pious e~citementscame to -anend .... and "~as obliged to retire frotn the unequal conflict. I-Io,vcver, it ,vas nec- essary to do something, so I turned to old books - little volumes of poetry and the drama fron1 about 1590 to 1610.j 82 This pas.s:1geis., ho, vev·cr, highly n1isleading. It un ders tat es th c art coll cctin g of Lock- er's ear]ier experiencetand it i1nplicsthat he ceased collecting pictures ,vhen he turned to books~ No doubt he gave up hope of obtaining costly paintings~ but he co}lectcd dra\vings, etchingst ,vatrr colorst and prints of every kind for the rest of ·his Jifet n1any of them of great . jnrerest. The Ro\vfant Catalogue of 1886 gives t\velve pages to the Jiscingof them, and the Second Catalogue gives five pages. JVloreover, one of the very latest exercises of his pen ,vas the preparing and print- ing of the nvent} 7 -scvcn-pagc booklet 3lrcady referred to, Aten1ories of Alen, Placestand Tbingst devoted solely to the listing of a selection of his art treasures. r"fhclibrar)T that he began to build in the 18 so's became in time one of the most notable coHectionsof its kind ever to be forn1ed in Eng- Jand. He started, as \VC have seen, ,vith editions of poen1s and plays of the time of Shakespeare. At the outset he n1ay·have had no atnhitious plans for extending the coHection to his o,vn ti1net but the bas-is on ,vhich he chose his books ,vas constant fro111first to last -the 111ost pcrf ect copy av2ilable of the earliest printing of each item. He quickly· gre,v to be his o,vn connoisseur and remained .su,,doing ,vi thout the · guidance of any expert or agent. He \Vasal,vays n1odest about his bib- liographical ]earning, y·et he a~cun111latedan impressive store of it, trusted his o,vn judgment, and n1ade fe,v serious 1nistakcs. I-le looked upon hin1sclfas an an1~teur.,pursuing a. hobby that he enjoyed but did not consider of the uttnost importance. 'Collecting/ says Birrell, {v1ras but a virtuosots ,vhim ..... Ju fact ·he never spoke of these things un- h~ ,va!; a clerk in the Admirn1ty. In vfo,v of Locker's o,vn account; here imrnodbtely fo!lo,ving:, this statement can app]y only to the 1atcr years of Lockcr~s Adn1iralty scnnce. 6 l A1y Confidences,p. 187, A1y Co'llfidcnces, pr 195. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbat Deligbt/111A1an' 2 75 Jess spoken to ,vith some insistence.' 83 Indeed he son1ctimcs spoke facetiously of collecting of any kind. He once met a clergyn1anin \vhom the obsession took -the forn1 of 2cquiring tthe halters ,vith ,vhich the n1orc notorious n1ulcfactors had been hangcd~t s-t A good rnany· col- lectors he found to be 'dullish fcUo\vs~and 'tolerably tiresome.' tYour true. bibIi ophi lc,, h c says, 'rnrel y· rca ds ~ny thing - he .. . . cxa111 in cs bindings, cri ti ciscs i 11ustra ti ons·, and scru tini scs tit le-pa gcs or pa gin atio n. He docs not read; but stil1, ,vhcn he shaHhave passed a,vay jnto book- Jess cthcrt at least let the ]ingcring scholar drop a flo,vert or flyleaf, on the turf ,vhere his once book-col]ecting body is laid~, Tennyson,s in- difference to coJiecting an1used J..Jockerbut in no ,vay disturbed him: 11 ...ennyson ,vould not give a. dam (a very· small Indian copper coin) for a letter in Adatn's hand\vrjting.' Y ct Locker docs not apologize for his hobby. 'It is a good thing to read books, and it need not be a bad thing to ,vrite theni; but it is a pious thing to preserve those that have bee 11 sometime ,v ritten.,. B 'I sccn1 n carer to Sha k cspearc ,v hen I hav c his volun1e of "Sonnets" (edition 1609) open before n1c4 I am nearer to Titian ,vhcn I 1u1vcone of his masterly sketches in my hand~'5 G The fact that he did not look upon col]ecting as a 1natter of ,vorld- sbaking 111omcntis nut to say th:tt he ,vas perfunctory ahout it. On the contrary ·he ,vas energetic and persistent, 'giving out 1n3rheart it1 usur}T to such pastime.~ ~j Nor ,vas he able to relinl1uish it. Son1etimc in the early 18 Bo's he ,vrote., 'I an1 abandoning this pursuit . . . if I live three or four )rears ]onger I .shall prjnt n1y cata1ognc, perhaps prcpar~tor)r to selling the collection.' .SB But the urge ,vas too strong for him. After the catalogue can1c out, in 1886,.he resu1ned his old habit and collected almost to the end of his life~ to so much purpose that, 2s ,vc have seen 1 a second catalogue appeared after his death~ The pursuit cost hint,. he say5~n1uch shoe 1cathcr.80 Like any other biblion1aniache haunted auction roon1s and secondhand book.shops.,both the fa1nous and the ob- scure ones~and kept hilnse.lfup to the 1ninutc on dc.sirab!citems ne,vly 1i.stedin the catalogues over ,vhich he pored. \,\14 C. Hazlitt said he Bjrrd1, ScribJ1er"'r, XIX., 4 3. Qt1otations in this and follo"·ing six sentences frorn Afy Confidences., pp. r88, 116--2[7., 189. u; Opening ,vords of the Preface to the First Rowfant Catalogue. 6(1 A!y Conb'dences,p. 189. !";' Afy Confidences, p. 195+ My Confidences, p. l96. Reported hy Sir Clnr ks Tennyson, Stan .and A-Iarketsf p. 141. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 1-1.ar·va rd Library Bulle ~il1 used to sec hin1 ea.rly in the mornjng pacing up and do,vn in front of a bookse]ler"s yet unopened door jn order to have first go at some desir~ able v0Jun1c in the dealer,s just p\1blishedlist.vo He joined the Philo- biblont a sn1allgroup of bibliophi1es\Vho breakfasted together six times a year at the houses of the n1en1bersto admire and discuss each othcr,s . . co 1lee tion s . 1u Tl~e adycnturcs that b efel 1 Locker during tl1 e ardors of the chase, covering a period of sonic forty 3,cars, ,verc n1any. 1rlriting in 1887 of his recently printed Ro,vfant Catalogue, he said: 'I had hoped to 1nake it a catalogue raisoune,and to give some amusing and curjous infor1na- tjon .respecting many of the books - their vicissitudcst and ho\v they can1e to 111c. This ,vould have been jnrcrcsting to 1ny children,, and "=-ouldnot have offended the public;. but health and its accornpanyii1g the1n to point out their particular virtues 1 or~ in hushed tones, as if hun1orously anxious not to hurt their feelings, to .specifyson1c hidden dcf cc t, or son1e carefully rep aired page. ·\ \'hi le _j\1r. Locker ]ived, each book had its stor)r, No,v the H.. o\vfant Library is dumb4, ~i It js a great pity that Locker's intention ,vas th,varted. An idea of ,vhat is thus lost, both to the professional bib]iographer and to the untec:hnicaIbook lover., can be gained from scattered co1nn1cnts gleaned fro111an occasional p8gcof A1y Coufide11ces,I)atch·work~ and the Second l{u-\vfant Catalogue. F'or example.,there is in the first of these vo]_un1cs the lively account of his long-continued effort, finally suc~essful, to secure a single page of the I 62 3 Shakespeare fo]io, the· absence of ,vhich ,vas the only·serious defect of his O\vn copy.EJ.i Tn Patcbl1.vorkare to be found a fc\v si1nilarreminiscences, such as Locker's account of ho,\~ he secured, through the kindness of another collector~ his copy of the fir.st edition,. 1600, of Eugl.1nd'sHelico11., of ,vhich (theJc arc not four copies !,{) \"\'~ C. Hazlitt, The Confessions of a Collector (London, I 897), pp. 7 r~7i.+ m Sec Aly Confidences, p. 216. Locker \i;.=-asone of tl1c founders of -:;ingrt colfoctors' group that gr e\v jnto the Durl in gton Ji"inc Arts CJ ub ( Af y C 01, fid ence-s! p. 189) . 00 Afy CGnfidencesi p. 19t\ n. 1. sr~·ibner1s.,XIX, 44~ i-j Aly Confidences, 203-:216. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbat Deligbtf11 l A1a11' kno,vn.' ~5 As to the Second Ro,vfant Catalogue, 1nost of the notes additional to the bibliographical descriptions \Vereapparentl)r by·his .sort Godfrey and a fe,v by Robert John l.1istertthe Librarian of the Board of Trade,, hut there are forty by· I.Jocker, printed jn italics and signed F~ L. Son1cof these deal only ,vith technical points, a fe,v merely tell ,vhcrc and ,vhcn a given item ,vas bought - 'I bought this [ lV11tbering 1-leigbts] at Ha\vorth on the 24th Sept..1 1877' -oo- but others have a son1e,-vhat ,vider interest. Of a volun1c of Cruikshank's dra,vings he ,vrotc; 1.I think George Cruikshank is a genius, though a very irrcgu1ar and uncqua] one ..... 1 have tried to get together characteristic speci- . n1cns fro1n his ,vorks .... These a.re spccirncns of G. C. nt his ,vorst/ Of his copy of l\1credith,sPoents ( 1851) ,,Tclearn that it ,vas presented to hitn by the author, and Locker added the foHo,vjng co111mcnt: 'At page 101 you ,vill find a pocn11 called Love jn the \Talley, and at the end of the volume )7 0n ,vill find the san1e pocn1 re,Tised and an1plified. It came out in a 1nagazinct,venty-five )7 ears after the first v0Iun1e ,vas given to the public. Tennyson and I both very 1nuch admired this poem .... -and ,ve ,vere both sorry, very· sorry~ he tampered ,vith it.' Beneath the ]isting of -hiscopy of Thackeray,s Tbe Pnris-Sketch Book, . he ,vrote, 'I gave Annie Thac.kcra) 7 a copy·of this book, she had been unable to get oner Then, apropos of his copy of Tbe Irish Sketch- Hook, this is stated~ (I had three· reasons fo~ buying this book~ r. 1t ,vas ,vrittcn by n1)r friend 1AT.. 1\1. T.. l, It belonged to the author of ''Ru- baiyat of Omer Khayya,n.n 3. I have a ,vcakncss for the Lord l\1ay·or in \To] .. II, page 309 1 and so h:1sLora llosebcry.' An1ong other notes by Locker is a long one dealing ,·vith his o,vn and Tennyson's pro~ found admiration for ·y\-'ord.s,vorth -and especially for the Tintern Ahhcy lines, one concerning CornciHc's Le Cidt ,vhich he called ithe 1nost splendid tragedy in the French language.,'and others nbout Sir \\ 1illiam Davenant) Byron~La llochefoucauld,, and \ 1il1on.. The distinction of Locker's ·collection \Vas qualitative rather than 9uantitative. By comparison ,vith other private libraries assen1bled in England and An1crica in his tin1ct it ,vas not ren1arkablcin size.. 1""he First Ro,vf ant Catalogue lists onl) 7 93 o items; a. f c,v of the entries are in t\VO or 111orevolumes, but even so the total number is less than a thousand. The Second l{o,vfant Catalogue has about 650 entries, ex- M~ Patcbwork 1 pp. 1t3-11.5. Quotation; to encl of paragraph fro1n Second Ro,vfant Cata1ogue, pp. 47• 601 7(\ I 04, I dt Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) H nrvnrd Libra, y Bulletin elusive of 3 3col1ected by·Locker~s elder son, Godfrcy4 Thus the n1axj- rnun1 sjz.ethe library ever reached is snbsrantiallJ.run dcr t\VO thotisand v0Jun1es. It 1nust be noted, ho,vcvcr, that both catalogues list in addi- tion a considcrab]e array of manuscripts, nearly all of then1 letters. And it should he noted further that Locker considered his prints and dra,vings a part of his 1ibrar)r4 ~fhc collecting of autographs \Vasmarked by the same rigorous selec- tivity as that of books; striking testin1ony is the contents of the 'Great Albn1n,' no,v on deposit at I-Iarvard4 Here are ncurly one hundred and fifty separate iten1s,n1ostly letters but including docu1nents, liter- ary textst and 1nusical scores, ranging fron1 i\1ichclangclo and Luther do,vn to Tcnn) 7SOnand Ruskin. In addition to n1an)7 of the great names in English literature, La Fontaine, Voltaire, 1-lousseau, Goethe, and H ci nc a re .rcpresentcd in Con tin ental Iitera tu re, \Teran e8e., Rub ens~ Poussin, and Rembrandt in artt Handel, Bach1 H·aydn, IVlozart, nnd Beethoven in music.97 Sir Char] esTenny-son, l..,ockcr's grandson, observed that the greater part of the library ,vas built up during the l..iondonyears, the period of his first rnarriage.98 The point js of some interest., since his financial resources during that span of t\vcnty-nvo years ,vcre smaller than they ,verc later and necessitated careful buying. At that tin1e there 1nust have been also ql.1estionsof space -and protection4 After the removal to llo\vfant the collection bccarne kno,vn as the Ro\vfant Library, and a solution \Vas found to the proble1n of the hous- ing of the hooks. The solution took the forn1 of a strong roon1 buHt underneath the main staircase 2t Ro,vfant. One of the first of such roon1s ever constructed by n private co1lector for the protection of his hoolrs,99 it ,vas built of brick and tiles and equipped \\'ith fireproof shcl ves. It , v as s-n1alli Io ,v-cci linged, an r. A full list of the contcuts , ..~as published about 1908 by Dodd, !\lead & Company as a sale c:italogue, under tho titl-c Tbe Rowfant Autognrpbs, Frederick Locker's- Great A/brnJI; sec p. 18:2 bclo\\'. ~9 Stars 0.11d A{arJ.·et.r~ p~ 40. ro The n~·o e:-irltc~tof ,1i.1hiclfI h~ve found record a.re Locker's and Hen.ry H uthjs, but \V j thou t clear ind ic a.tion of priority. H enrr Hu th died in i 878, R nd Locker n) ay not ha,Te inst::illed his strong roon1 until after the death of his fachcr-jn-law·in 1885~ V.' hen Ro,;,vfan t beca111cth c pro pc-rty uf hh ,v ife~ If so1 th f: priority uf course rests with H lJ th. 0 n th c lattcr 1s strong roo Ult in Enni smore G-ard ens, I ..ondon, see T in1cs Literary Supplenzent, 2:0 1\·tayl 9io~ p. 3 i4T 100 Birrell, Locker-L,unpson~ pT10. 1\.1rGilbert Ho\v~rd J{nighr, a fonner president Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 2 79 \Vas a barred ,vindo,v, but the lighting ,vas so dim that the use of cand]cs ,va.s necessary-~Anlong the possessions of the Ro,vfant Club is Lockcr"s o,vn strong-room candlestick, made to be used horizontally, ,v.ith a .flattened flange at one end, the candle sticking up flt right ang]es -at the other end. 1.""hcflat end ,vas inserted beneath books on the she]ves, holding the candlestick stca.d)7 and pern1itting the user free plny ,vith his hands \vhcn he \vishcd to examine any of the volun1es. Such V{as the sancnun in the ,vords of his friend Lord Crc,vc: . . . that cell, obscu rct divineJ The A1ecca of a bookn1an's drcatns, A scholar's shrine.101 Though pri n1itive and inconvenient, it housed . . . the bluest blooded race That Bookland kno, 1ts+ In vic\v of Lockcrts jnrcrest in A1ncrica.,it is not surprising that the Ro,vfant Librar}~ contained a quota of An1cric~n books and manu- scripts. The First Ro\vfant Catalogue devotes to An1erican authors u separate section containing thirty-nine entrjes. 1 ...hese include Bryant, \1/illiatn Ellery Ch~nning, E1nerson (Poen1s~ 1847 ), Bret Harte, Holn1es (five items, four being presentation copies), Longfcllo\v (seven items), I....o,vell (three items)~ Joaquin l\1illcr, Poe and Pociana (ten · items)~ John Godfrey· S:txe (nvo itenlS, one a pre.~entation copy, the other dedicated to Locker) 1 '''hit1nan (t\VO itetns'"one a presentation copy ,vith autograph inscription), ~nd '''hittier (three iten1s). The san1e catnlognc lists t\vcnty-six autograph letters_ by .Americans - Fran1din,.I--Ia,vthornc, Joaquin iv1iHcr,John Ho,vird Payne, Poe, and ,i1lashington 102 - and to these should be added a.fe,v that are inserted in the American books listed above. Sitnilarlr the Second Ro,vfant Catalogue contains books by En1crson, I\ranklin, and Holmes, and autograph letters by Abbey~ Harte, Hulmes, L.1ongfello".r,and JJo,vcll - aH-addrcsscdto L.ockcr. In the case of Holtnes there are also a dozen 1nanllscripts other than letters. It is \Vorth -ndding that the American hooks are not in the section headed 'Foreign Books' but arc in ,vith the Eng Iish iterns .. of the Rffwf~nt C~ub and one of tile Club~s pilgrhns to Ro,vf.l:nt in 1955, ha~ told 1ne tl,at rh~ strong room Iouk~d Hkc a d,1ngcon it1 111cdiaeval c-astle. lOL The.se lj ncs and tho t,vo f o 1low j ng are from Lord Cre ,ve 2s untitled verses pre- fixed to the Second Ro,vfant C-ata]ugue+ ioc: 1'hc c1cvcn "\Vashington letters ~ro to the Reverend Jonathan Boucher-, Locker l's Hl~tcrn:ii grandf:ather {see p. 93-of tirs.c inst-aliment). Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Harvard J..,ibraryBulletin The continuing care that Locker devoted to the selection of books ,vas extended to the bookp1atesthat he plnced in his volun1es.. At least e Jeven difl erent de.~ign s have be en traced 1 together \Vi th a haIf dozcn for his children, the latter n1ostlydra\vn bJr Kate Greena,va)T.The nvo plates most frequently met ,,rith, of the-jester, by H. Stacy IVlarks1 and of the nvo children under the tree, by Kate G·recna,vay, 1nay be found in a ,vidc variety of sizes and tints. In some of the most treasured vol- umes the plates are carefu 11 y· colo red. Six of the different designs are 1 sho,vn in Plate VI. (J~ Cr1tical evaluations of the Ro,vfant Library'} in Lockces day· and since., f orn1 an ahn ost unbroken chorus of praisc. 10 ·1 One voice., h o,v- evcr~ n1urs the harn1ony., that of \V .. C. Haz]ict, ,vhosc strjctures shq,v astonishing hostility-,running the gamut from belittlement to plain false- hood .. (He ,vas a very poor and injudicious bu) 7 Cf •••• I-Iis co11cction ,vas forn1ed ,vithout a.ny particldar mcthod1 and its in1portancc has been grcntl)7 overrated. J\1ost of his rarest books ,vere miserab]e copies. t 10 ;] Not content ,vith thisJ I-Iazlitt a.dds personal aspersions, 1nost of them high1yn1alicious: he ,vas 'a hizarte figure/ 'his expression and air ,ve.rc }udicronsl~t cox:con1bical,' 1he ,vas destitute of humour/ 'he posed as a friend to men of letters/ 'the booksellers thought him 1 n1ca111' his affability , vas 'ra thcr artificial. '-''hen seen on the street 'in ::1 stupendous fur-coat ., ... he 1night have p~t~sedfor a n1an of fifteen 1~ Repr{JdtH.:cd{ro1n ·volu1nes:in the Harvard College Library: upper ro,,.") .fir.st nvo dn1v.'Il by A·lor~tagu!thi.rd unidentified; ]ol\·cr ro,v) fin:t dn:rwn by H. St~cr 1\-1arks1 second by l(:Hc Greemrway, third by ,vultcr Crane. BirreH, Lockcr~Lmnp- ton,. Pr. iv·: -i:son1c Fam i1 y Book 1>] a tc~tt i 11ustratcs thirteen pla t-e:s, ranging f rorn Locke.r's grandfathers to his youngest chjldrcn; sec also Briti.sh i\1useum, Catalogue of Briti.slJ and A'flterican Book Plates Uequeat/Jed ... by Sfr Augustus lVo/laston FrQ,il•s (London, 1903-04 )! Nos. 1R540,-18560. The Gro1ier Club of 1'\~,v York has 3 n a?bmn of La ckerss (in an rmor.fal binding of Cr:rd ina 1 Cani i11 u Uorgl I csc, a f tcr- wards Pope Paul "\T) containing, in addition to dn1."·ings for London Lyrics and 1nis- cdlincous items, series of drawings and pruufa (in varjous sta.tes) for hookpfo.tesi- all but on c of the kn o·w•a Lo cl~cr pla tcs arc re presenteds !lnd th ere is sc ries of six designs hy 1\-ion tagu, sorn e of ·which g re ,vi th out a cconlp anyj ng proofs and presurn- ft bl y \\Tere not u tili-£.edfor p fatc-s. 1~ It should he recorded that Gos:sc's app1·ais.1l(Boo~s on tbe 1·able., pp .. c71-c 72) is tepid an~ prttronlung, the books being ~g-c.'Iluinc,oft~n rarci mostly perfect .. + + but in thdr a \.'Cragc co11dkon poor;' the Ro,vfant Library 'a magnificent pcrfonn- 3nee for a iua n of Locker .,s rnc ans.' 'T'h;,t Gosse 's ::ip prai sal is vory 1nuch a rn inodty report ,,Till be demonstr~tc.d hdo,.,·, it.~ imidequacy h proved hy an exan1in:ation of tl lC bo Oks the mscl vcs. 1 (13 Quot::nions ln this nnd tv:o foHo\1,ringsentence.~ from ,~l. C. J-1~:zHtt,-rhe H az~ litus II. 30~3 r 4, Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) , -.•: •, , ._., • •:•• •~••••• , , • • :• •• 1 •-.••-:,".IL•• . . I ' i ' ,I .. J •• i". I I ' • i . I • ' • = I . . . 1I : • • , " .I I I I ' I. I j ! .. ) . r-~• I , ..·: : ,:'· ...... ' . , I ... 'p I • ! • ·1+1t;{ l•r, 11111.u.--1I • - ,- --- 1/ ~Wf~l'/.fi_j~--- -- ·--~'----_..... ~----- ...... ___- -,r-,.. ..I--~ _,..___ -..______.;_,_,---- 11 A i,,u;:r.A xcHOLY J ESTr.. R. Jt ot:i 1 0:nly w~.i.i-th-c c::i.11and Ldl~~ . Ari!l .i,.·-el SOffiC! 1C,lr!j, ::ir..::i:tt inr. ,·c-t'i-E:"i. h PLATE \T 'f.'RO!\J Once a Tfreek, 7 sr.PTL\·1 uEn l 87 2 Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) t9 t9 0 0 • • _ ·GOD -~F_EAR -~F_EAR b b 0 0 ct: ct: A1Rll"..'WtrA A1Rll"..'WtrA tz:'l. tz:'l. ...... -~ -~ ~IFE"JlRNOUGHTI~ ~IFE"JlRNOUGHTI~ . -~ -~ i i · · R R _ _ - € ·· ·· ..._. ..._. · · .. .. - I I ...... - _.,.. _.,.. -1 -1 · · .. .. '· '· lr~11. lr~11. • • • r-- " " ...... • • . . 7 7 jl ; ; t' t' :;: :;: - l.0Cl{ l.0Cl{ .:r-; .:r-; . . .. .. ~VII ~VII ~-- ...... · · - ' ...... I.:...:. ...... ':')., ':')., _..,, _..,, ______ ..,,;~.- ______ . . i.1.. i.1.. JI.. JI.. 1fR 1fR 1,1 1,1 - :_T;;i-l:~ :_T;;i-l:~ ..,...... :: ..,...... :: •. •. J~Jill\ J~Jill\ -, -, --~ --~ TCK TCK -- 'K 'K . . ~\-i:,...... _~ ~\-i:,...... _~ ,I ,I -~ -~ : : ...... C. C. NOU~~T. NOU~~T. --: --: ,-_ ______ . . - ... ...... VI VI 1.,-• 1.,-• L L .,-.,,.-,,..,. .,-.,,.-,,..,. • • • ·.-LO ·.-LO RF.DER RF.DER Ft,:r\ Ft,:r\ ~=~t~- 'i<. 'i<. F F .:-.-.. .:-.-.. ,•.-... ,•.-... . . . . G G --·---- '.& '.& · OF OF ••-"'- PLATE PLATE :-• :-• ·------ .1. .1. ~~_.:'/~"@..~. ~~_.:'/~"@..~. • • 1r 1r •• ;h:922.-&e ;h:922.-&e Tf:S Tf:S · · .. .. • • • • ~- • • - • • 7i·;: 7i·;: ...... , .. .. I 'I C C - ~ff ~ff 1 1 1~~. 1~~. '1 j j , , · r r ~r ~r - - - . • • ·• lll~d--~,_.,.....,_-.,..~.. lll~d--~,_.,.....,_-.,..~.. 1 ··- •• -· •• •- - DOOKPL.o\ DOOKPL.o\ .. .. _ :- Ii Ii ,..: ,..: i i .. .. • • .. .. - C: C: CB CB m m tr1 tr1 "'rj "'rj :c :c -~ -~ '1 '1 g- -. -. . . ...... -,'• ' ' .:,;.-.;..a .:,;.-.;..a ,.ti ,.ti • .-,--,~ .-,--,~ ...... - - _. _. -:,-,,,. -:,-,,,. ., ., .. .. .. .. ,~__::.,,~ ,~__::.,,~ . . -_ -:-: -:-: - .. .. - + + - ______ . . • • ...... i i . . . . - ...... · · ._ ._ . ...... RICK RICK . . .l .l .~. .~. ~ ~ :·-=·• :·-=·• -...... i.c -...... i.c LOCKER~ LOCKER~ FREDE FREDE ~-<.c ~-<.c ...... (::l:""--:::..~r.s-~~y~ (::l:""--:::..~r.s-~~y~ . . ~J ~J ..:.::,~~~ ..:.::,~~~ (; (; . . . lID lID . . ,:;_,_ ,:;_,_ Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) z.81 stone~' yet that same cvcning1 'in his s,vallo,v-tails1 ,vith his attenuated fran1e and his ,vizen faccJ ·you felt :1sif you could lift him ,vith one hand.' 100 I-le ~found son1e one [Andre,v Lang] to sing th~ praises of the Ro\vfant books in strains- ,vell, sigiiificant of a quid pro quo for .... hospir-ality.' 107 'The Bod1eian had been 1nadepoorer' by a book no,v in Locker,s possession.los In the lig~t of such staten1ents., it is ob- vious-that llaz]itt's rcn1ark, already quoted, to the effect that Locker ,vas en1inently a gentlcn1an,vith n1anncrs court]y· yet virile, \Vas a very· reluctant complimcnt~109 Birrell accounts for the ani11111sof Hazlitt's pronouncen1cnts on the ground that J_,ockernever called on ·him for advice in forming his Jibrary,,though I--Jazlitthad for 1nore than a dee~ ade been adviser to Henry Huth, ,vhose collection ,vas far more exten- sive than Locker's~110 It sccn1s a1sothat Hazlitt added to his o,vn jnco1nc by carry·ing on a certain amount of private book dealing, somc,vhat after the n1anner· of 1 ....J4 \Vise, buying as he could and selling in a quiet ,vay to individual collectors; and tl1at I.Jock.erdid no bu}ring fro1n hin1. In any case the prevailing opinion has al,vays been very different f ron1 Hazlitt's - different aI1nost to the point. of extravagance. Alf red 1i\'. Pol1ard~\Vriting ten y·ears n(ter Locker's death, said of the Ro,vfant Library: 'Its great distinction ,vas that ... jr ,vas absolutely homo- geneous, pervaded by-a single jdca, and that the highest at ,vhich a col- _Jector can ain1; for though it is good to collect the m-asterpicccsof print- ing, or of book-illustration, or of bookbinding, jr js surely best of all to co1lcct the masterpieces of literature, and no collector before l\1.r. J....ockcr has ever ]~ Ha zlitt 1 T be H azlitts, II, 3 1 3 • J(:11 See pp. 103-104 of .first in~ts.lltncnt. 1 i 4) Birre11, Locker-La111pso n, p. 78. ni A. ,,r.Polfo.rd, 1Tbe Ro,vfs.nt Books/ Library, n~ s-.,VI ( 1905 )1 310-311, 309. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 2 82 Harvard Library Bulletin port: "The library formed by the poet Frederic~ Locker _ r v-ras unique of its kind. The o,vncr's object- and it is indeed strange that nobody should have had the idea before hitn -,vas to .securethe 1n"c1s- tcrpicces (and the masterpieces onl)r) of Eng1ish literature .... in the fir.st origina] edition of each \Vork.' Ile bought \vith \Vondcrful judgn1ent., The Ro,vfant Catalogue of r 886 'has since proved a text- book for English and American collectors.. For 1 as Andrc\v Lang put it in a famous ballad, "'You do not find on every-stall, the Ro\vfant books~n I ll:? Later by· another quarter century is John Carter's recent appraisal. 'It is given to fc,v hook-collectors to exert a decisive influ- ence on the technique ~s \vcU as on the taste of their agc4' Locker ,vill be one of the fc\v to \vho1n 'obeisance ,vill justly be n1adc .. 4 [for] the c.ffcct of their collecting phi]osophy on their conten1poraricsand .successors.. It js one thing ..... to assemble a great collection in the classic tradition or in the prevailing manner.. It j5 another thing., and n 1nuch rarer one, to change the ,vhole climate of book-collecting.' 113 In r 90 5, ten years after Locker 1s death, the An1erican col1cctor E4 D,vight Chnrch bonght the Ro,vfant I.,Jibrary,for a sum believed to he about £40,000. 114 Church kept 'only a sn1all·portion of then1/ .selling the rest, "'through Dodd, i\fead & Co 4, tu various American collectors,' 1 including ltobert Hoc1 "\\'4A. "\\1hitc, and Beverly Che,v4u Paul i\14 '\\'arburg is not namedt but he acquired Locker's 'Grc2t Alburn~ through the same firm about 19081 bequeathing it to his son-in-la,v and daughter, n1r and i\1rs S ..B. Grin1sonJ by ,vhon1 it \Vas placed on deposit in the I-Iarvard ColJcge Lib rnry j n r 9 5 3 . l\T Any attcn1pt to deal ,vith the personality of J.... ocker must t;tart ,vith the recognition of t,vo unfortunate facts: his precarjous health and his n1e]an cho] ia. T hesc, interacting u pan e acl1 other, pcrsis tc d throughout his life, though in varying degrees of intensity·. Of the former nothing need be added to \Yhat is said on an enr]icr page, but his enlotional life 113 Seymour de R i cd Eng fish Coile c tors of 1Jo o ks mid A.fanu s-criJ)t s ( Cunib rld gc, J 930), pp. 175-176. The lAu1g quot!ltion is from 'The Ro,\·fant Books. Ballade ,en Guise de Rondeau' prefixed to the First Rowfant Catalogue. 11~ John Carter, l1ook.r tmd Book-Collectors {London, 1956)t p. 39. l::14 Sec Po]iard, Librat}', VJ .. 3,l4. -:i.:1! J)c lliccii EnglisfJ Callectors, pp. 175-176. De Ricci~s footnotes he.re gh·c refer- ences for the later disposition of the Ro,\Tfo.ntbooks. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbat Deligbtful Mau1 cannot be understood \vithout reference to his inveterate despondency. In ,vhatcvcr tcrn1s psychologists ,vou1d catalogue it and ,vhatever may have been its u1ti111ateorigin, there is abundant evidence, in ::.1.dditionto ill health, to account for its continuing presence: his father's sternness, the sombernessof the religious training his n1othcr g2.vehim., his kno,vl- cdge that his s1ster Ellen and his brother Ed,vard ,vcre n1uch better at th cir 1csso n s th an he , r.7asi the protracted ,v retch c dn css of his schooI days~his lack of success as a co1nn1ercial apprentice and as a clerk in the Ad1niraltJr. Traumatic experiences n1ust have occurred that left a pern1anent 1nark upon hi1n. Even after his fortunate marrjagcs had freed hin1 f ron1 financial ,vorry, he ,vas troubled by a sense of depend~ cnce, or so a four-line stanza th-at appears as a footnote to a late page of his autobiography secn1sclearl) 7 to say_i:a·,And still other considera- tions contributed in his 1niddlc and later years to his en1otionaldistress. After the first ex:hi]arationof successful authorship" he ,vas obsessed by a rccurrjng suspicion that his poetry ,,ras of negligible va]ue and cou]d not survive; and to the end of his life he never achieved any satisfying religious faith~11 • On a]most the final page of his autobiog- raph)r he ,vrotc, 'I ,vould not care to live my-,vasted Jifc over again ..' No doubt it is possible to ovcrcn1phasize this dark thread in the ,vcb of J_,ocker)spersonality, but it n1ust not be forgotten4 Fro111it stcn11ncd, at least in large part~ hjs fondness for cluhs, his lifelong effort to add all he could to the happiness of children, :ind, not least, his cultivation off riendships~ As his son-in-la,v said of hin1, 'I-Ic stood in need of ... a11 ies against his ovtn despondency.' 11 B A fc,v of his personal {1ualiticsand interests have already been hinted at - his sensitiveness~ his urbanity, his love of L.ondon, his hospitality, his unexpected interest in boxing. In the next fe,v paragraphs other n:r; The f Ootnote {Afy Confidences! p. 4 [ 3 )1 with nu- oc cumm~nt't goes as fo11ows: But :a trouble did in1portunc And perplex 1lin1 night and n1orn, l\'h h the burden of a fortune Un to ,v hi ch he \\ras not Lorn . .11' In lieu of faith,. ,v rote Il irre1} ( Lo c:ker -Ln1npron. p. 84 ) , 'he \\'as fore cd to con- struc r as best: he coLild) oat of his -Jflections, quick fee]jngs, natura] pfotyt :tnd a most genuine hu1nilityt s. shelter for hi1nself.1 :1t~ BirreH. Scribner's 1 XIXl 41. This may lJe compared ,Yith passages jn .A!y Con- fJ'dcnces: 'th~t "\Vorst of prisons, the dungeon of ,nyself" ( P~ 150); and tl ha\Tc hornc the hurden nf solitude' (p. 407). Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Hnrvnrd l ...ibr1try Bulletin traits are briefly touched upon., to be follo,ved by a fuller trcatnJent of nv o th a.t a re of central importa.n ce. Even in the ordinary n1atters of daily Jife.,Locker laid great stress on taste. He judged conduct ad1nirablc or offensive not so 1nuch b) 7 refer- ence to 111o:ral and religious codes as by his o,vn inmi tive standards of good taste, of , v-hat is fitting - or so it often sce1ns. As to his tastes in the na rro \\; er sense of preferences in litcrarure, thesc arc rev ea]in g His deepest love ,vas for poetry·.,but his likings ,vere a bit capricious. He had but a li1nited ad1nir2tionfor Spenser, Coleridge, Byron.,Shelley ('I have read '"'Rosalind and Helen~,,. and J have read ~'Sall)• in our· A1ley,~' and I prefer ''Sally·'' ,).,119 the t\vo Bro,vnings, and Southey. An1ong \vritcrs of light verse he gave high ranking to Prior, Pracd., I-Iood1 Dobson, Lang, Calverlcy1 and ·,v. S.. Gilbert. Poets to ,vho1n he returned again and again for the sheer pleasure of reading the1n in- cluded Co,vpcr., Burns ('Burns is one of the Imn1orta1s. ,vhat a for~ tunatc thing for us that he ,vas not educated, let us say at Eton and BallioPt), Landor~ Keats ('I im1ncnsely admire about eight or ten pag~s')~ Oliver ,vendell Holn1cs, 'i\'ords\vorth 1 and Tennyson ('l\.iy .selections from Alfred i.vouldn1ake an1uch thicker volu1nc than \\ 1ords- ,vorth's~ but ,vould it be more precious?J). His reading of novels ,v'1s not avjd., and his references to them are so infrequent that it js hard to jdentif}r his favoritest though he adn1ired Thackeray and Dickens arid G eorgc Eliot; and h c reg d detective fiction~ b )7 , a tn ong others,· ~7'.7ilki e ·collins and E1nile Gahoriau. J.....ocker's pages sho,v that he \Vas fond of the non-fictional prose of the seventeenth ccntur} 7 ; particularly '~'al- ton and the great divjncs, and that an1ong his favorites in his o,vn cen- tury \Vere La.nib and 't1le plucky, the buoyant, the inin1itable Sydney Sn1ith.' As for dra1na, it should be borne in mind that he began his book collecting \Vith Elizabethan plays ..The theatre of his o,vn day interested him and he had .some personal association ,vith celebrated people of the contetnporary stage1 among thcn1 Sir Henry Ir,ring1 Sal- vin.i, Adah l\1enken, and Lillie Langtry; but it does not appear that the drama, ,vhether on the stage or in print, ,vas u consuming passion ,vith hi1n. Luckily for hi1n~Locker had an inborn comic gift, serving as a coun- terbalance to his me]ancholia, giving a pervasive flavor to his talk and his ,vritings, both poetry and prose, and taking n1any fonns, ranging fron1 puns) rionsense, funny sto~icsJand bagatelles of all sorts1 to ,vit., i 1~ Quotations to end uf paragraph frorn :l1y Confidences. pp. 178-r 791 306. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbat lJeUgbtful A1au' a keen sense of con1edy·of character (he \Vasespecially dra,vn to\vard c ccen trj cs) , 120 quiet reflections on the relation of the co1ni c and the tragic, and the f Oml ulati on of ha]f-h Utnoron S aphorisms. A fe\v randon1 exan1ples n1ay· be given, though they suffer fro1n being taken out of context. Second marriages, he ,Yrotc 1 are not ncccs- sarily 'n1erely pouring hot \vatcr on the used tea-leaves."121 He ended a comparison of English and Scottish hu1nor by observing., ~one can hardly co1lceive an Edinburgh i\1r. Pick,vick.' 122 After seeing Dickens and other an1atcurs act in J.....ord Ly·tton"s Not So Bad as TJ7 e ~"'eenz~ his con11ncnt \vast 'l'"hcy seemed pretty bad.,,1 ~3 An unnan1ed ]ady of Locker's acquaintance ,vas ~as ug1y as sint nnd .... almost as agree- able.' 124 He cherished a strong attacl1n1ent for Thon1as Erskjnc despite the fact that 'he h~d not a single rcdee1ning vice/' 12 ~ Leigh Hunt ~had an inc a pacit} 7 for dea iing ,·vith the ordinary· affairs of existe o cc~ such as arithn1etic and n1atrin1ony4'. A fc1lo,v-n1ember of the Philobib]on v• .-hon1 he called Buggins ,vas one of the fe,v persons Locker found it jrnpossiblcto like; of him he ,vrotc, ~IfI \Vere asked \vhcthcr Buggins \Vas a.hvays disagreeable, I should say he is al,vays as disagreeable as the special circu1nstances adn1it of.' ~amartine ,vhcn Locker met him \vas running, nay~ galloping to seed.' 'Nothing annoys us so much as to hear of a fine trait in any one ,vhom ,ve cordially dislike.~ He once spoke of the 'specific lcvit)T' of his o,vn poen1s., Ho,v 1nuch 1nore interesting the circumspect and virtuous Southey ,vonld have been if he (had got tips)r, and had tried to kiss l\1aria Edge,vorth.' 120 120 An C}:trctne cxan1ple \Vas a person Locker called 'n1y old crony, AJlerdyce .. (Aly Confidences, p~· 194). This 'delirious· senex' l1ad Leen an athlete and "'as so '\•ain of his the,vs and sine\.vs' that ]10 conunfasioned a sculptor "'to t'J.ke his full-length portrait jn n1arblci colo~snl sizci as Hercules! and therefore ,vithoat a stitch of cloth- ing .. Except h~hy lion's skin f ~stcned athwart his :shoulders- a garJncnt barely "·id er tl rn.n t Iw garn tc nt of our :first parents. H o\vev er~ to ma kc up for th is sra rtling nudity, l I e ,vas rmed \vkh a tremendous d uba The fir.st object th~ t grc cted the coy visitor on entering Allerdyce 1s house "\Vashis lordship erect in the hall, in a decidedly threatening attitude, keeping ,vatch ;1nd '\.vard OV(':r the great-coats and umbre]bs ... (J n the trfal copy of ..lfy Confidencer at the Rowfant Clubj a different narne is assigned to this eccentric~) ul I'atcln.vork, p. 85. :1.::2 Pntc/Jwark 1 p. 4 3. Jf y Confidence;, p. 321. l~ Patcbru..-ork, pa 19. 2 ~ Quotations in this and follo\ving five sentences fro111 .Aly Confi'dences, pp .. i 5i.1 342 1 22 l,. I 56, 369, l 75~ J~ Patcbwurk, p~ 13. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 286 I-/a r·rJar d Li brar y Bn 11etin Ho-\vcvcr,vidcly adn1ired a nu1n may have been in his day as a talker, jt is hardly possible to for1n 2n adequate jdea of his conversation unle..ss vcrbati111records have been preserved; and in the case of Locker we have only occasional.snatches. But fron1 the comments of persons ,vho knc\v him it is clear that the kind of conversation he n1ost loved ,vas a quiet jnterchangc of i1nprcssionsof n1entpicturcs 1 books, or recent hap- penings ,vith a friend or t,vo at his o,vn fireside or at the table of -ano!d co1npanion. "\\1c learn f ron1 BirreJl that his speech, though in under- tones, had a trarc incisiveness,' 1~7 and that he cschc\vcd superlatives nnd displ-ays of feeling. II e disliked ,v hat he cal lcd strong tal kcrs - pcrs on s 7 given to disp u t~tio us ness and p ontifi cal pronoun cen1ents r 'A 1nod est) , n1arve1Jously1ningled ,vith ironyt ,vas of the very essence of his nature. No n1an expatiated less.' t:2ti I-Iis son OJivcr said of hin1: 'He did not seek to co1nmaodconversation and he never competed for listeners.' 1 ~9 He ,vas hirnself a generous listener and had the faculty of dra,ving out candid ta.1kfrom others. At his o,vn dinner table,. again according to Oliver, 'he sought to ((sharpen the children's \Vits'' as he expressed itJ by lacing his talk ,vith i1npromptu rhy1nes.,fanciful nonsense1 and evenJ even puns ..) This ,vas 'sinall beer, no doubt, to readers of_frigid print but vintage ,vith ,vhat experts call -a "houquee" ,vhcn uncorked to a charmed fan1ily circle.' In rc1ninisccnt verses prefixed to the Second Ro,vfant Catalogue three of his friends -Austin Dobson1 J...ordCre,veJ and his Ro,vfant neighbor \i\lilf red Sca,ven B1 unt ,vrote of the char1n of his conversation. There Dobson celebrated his (genial talk of gods and n1cn' a.nd pictl1red hin1 an1on g ]1 ts hooks, glass in eye, ,vi th a characteristic sn1ile foreteHing 'some triurnph of an apt reply ..' Lau- rence Hutton, sitting next to him at a luncheon at the Savilc Club and una,vare of his identity till aftenvards, ,vas deeply in1pre.ssed: (He talked to 1ne freely and brilliantly for a long tin1e.,.130 Another aspect of 1..-ocker'stalk for ,vhich he ,vas he]d in high repute ,vas his skill as a raconteur. If one is \vil1ing to regard as a kind of prjnted discourse the anecdotes an i::-1 Scribner's., XJXj 41+ ll-S BirrelJ, Lo cker-La-;n pson, p. 8 O+ 1~ This unc1 follow·ing t\1i.'O quotations from Cor11/JilitL, :209--.11 o.. :i;:t=) Book Buyer., X [II, 2 2 3, CL p. 104 ~nd n. 19 of first installment. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) '1"'batDe/igbtf ul Alan' broken parasol and the encounter ,vith lvlrs Branaghan/ 31 In conver- sation he handled a story, ,vhether hun1orous or scrious 1 \Vith subdued zest~telling it 'in a lo,v vujcc ,vith a 111ini1nun1of crnphasis., 1c,~ _ No one need be surprised that Locker had n n12rked fondness for anin1als1particular]y for pets. Just as he liked to puzzle over ,vhat 1nade an individual person uct as he did, just as he liked to see the \vorld thro11gh other n1cn's cy·cs, so he loved to conten1plate, for example, a cat and speculate upon ,vhy· it behaved just so and ,vhat ,vent on in its head. Not that l1c ,vas scjcntific about fr; his kno,vledge of biology· or any other science ,vas extren1ely lin11ted. Nor ,vas there~ sec1ningly, anything n1ystical in his interest. Ilut the creatures had life and thcre- f ore deserved syn1pathetic understanding; and if one of thcn1 no\v and then departed a bit f ron1 the norn1 for its species that made it doubly appealing- a cat that deviated f ron1 the feline pattern or a dog \Vith rare traits of caninit} 7 • For Pntchwork he \Vrote a brief and charn1ing essay about a.n oversized dog, a parrot that ,vas '-acynical fo,vl/ und a. tame rook that al,vays conducted it.self \Vith such decorum us to do credit to it') 'clerical garh. t i:ll A letter to l..,ocker .from l\1atthc,v Arnold thanks him 'for the birds and beast [ unspecified] you ,verc kind enough to hcsto,v on us the other day.~IJ•l In a pass-agein the trial copy of A1y Co11fide11cesat Harvard l"'ocker notes that S,vinh11rne'spassion for cats ,vas such that he thought he had been a cat in son1e former existence ~nd that thereafter he 111ightbe one again - to ,vhich Locker adds this comtncnt: 'I also an1 very fond of cats, these hearthrug tigers, and like to have one on n1y·knee .. L but son1eho,,\ J al,va.ys feel, even ,vhilc it is purring, that if I ,verc smaller or it ,vere bigger, it ,vou]d end by caring me ..J After l..iocker ,vent to live at Ro,vfant 1 his penchant for living things had an1plerscope~ 1:hnst so his son Oliver ,vrote, he tried to establish a colony of rooks on the estate, and he built near the house ,:a huge cage for t,vclvc cag]c u\vls from Scandinavia ..t 13:. Nothing b cttcr illustratcs Locker's rcmurkuble gift of em pa thy than his ,vay ,vith children. In part this 1nay have been -a.conscious effort, as thought rcn1cn1bcring his o,vn childhoodt -he had resolved to bring happinessto children as often as he could. According to his son Oliver., 'he cou]d not bear the thought of his offspring bccon1ing ,vhat he i:n Pp. 100--101 of first installn1c11t;p+ 288 below•; third insra1Jn1cnt. J~i Oliver Luckcr-L:unpsonj Con1hil11 L 1 209+ J~ Patebwo rkl pp. 2--6. JJj Birrell, Lotke-r-T.,.a111p1ou,p. r 26+ J&-, Con1!Jill, L, 79T Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 288 1-lar-vard Library Bniletin called ''buttoncd-u p'' 13~ - that ist as the context sh o, vs, re pressed. Sir Charles Tennyson has recorded th -a.t ,vhen he and his hr other visited Ro,vf ant their grandfather al \vays took an 'a ln1ost deferential inter- est in us and our doings- even in our boyish opinions and prefer- ences. J 1:J7 But ,v hat 1nade children respond to hitn so quickly and ,vholeheartedly· ,vas son1cthing innate and instinctive - ,vhnt Oliver called an 'in tui ti ve sy·n1pa thy . . . for little 1niserics and de j cction, \1-'hich alio\ved hi111( old and tired as he \Vas) to step into our yonn g shoes and hearts~' 13s I-Io\v this gift \Vas exercised is best seen by a.n example or r,vo. At the funeral ·of the ,vjfc of a small-scale bookbinder and print seller \vho111Locker liked, he found himself ,valking to the churchyard '\vith a sli1nniece I.of the deceased], ,vho ,vas general servant to the apothe- cary - a taciturn little girl ... ,vho made a curtsey every time I 139 spoke _to her~, She ,v2s poorly dressed1 her clothes looking donbl y shabby fron1 contrast ,vith 'crisply nc\v crape trimmings~, She carrjed a prayer bookt a clean handkerchief, and a broken parasol that \\Tould not open~ It had a carved handle in the likeness of the head of a bird .. (As ,ve passedslo,vly along the dusty·lane> a pair of thrushes ,verc sjng- ing their hearts out, and I ,vhispered, pointing to her parasol handle, '"A bird in the hand js not ,vorth t\vo in the bush/' She looked up _at. me, made her 1ittle hob'Jand her gr~vc young face relaxed at once . . . This ,vas not nearly· all; for a da1~ or t\vo· aftenvards I received a small box packed ,vith hay, containing a little old earthcrnvarc n1ug ••. decorated in colours ,vith a pictµrc of a country inn, and the sign, "The Bird in the Hand.i, :t This pleased Locker so much that he promptlJY sent her a ne,v parasol l\1ore than half through his autobiography he rexnarked that he had been presenting his ]ifc in genera.I outline and that he \vould no,v give 'a more detailed account of nine minutes nnd -a.half of it. 1 140 On his ,vay· to lto,vfant one day he entered n third-class r.aih,raycarriage and fo11ndthat the co1npartment already had an occupant, a girl, hardly out of her childhood., ,vho proved to be the daughter of a shopkeeper in a country to,vn. She ,vas reading a letter., and her f cllo\v traveler 1~ ConrbilJ, L, :210. ]:;!"] Sta.rs (HJd Afnrketsi p. 4~t 1~ Cornl1ill, Lt 73. ;i~ Qootatio-ns to end of paragraph from .Afy Co11fide11ce.rtpp. 39g---400. 1.l0 Qnotntions: to end of paragraph frurn Afy Co11fidcncest pp. i6i-166. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) ,:1;batDeJigbtf uJ Man' ,vatch ed the changing expressions-of her face as she read it. After a bit she dropped her ticket, and Locker retrieved it for her. 'It ,v2s then, for the first time, thnt she seemed to be a,varc of n1y existence. She thanked me, but ,vith a bashful gravity·.' He tried a topic or nvo of conversation to ,vhich she n1adescant response:, but ,vhen he .spoke of country life 1shc ,voke up, she became communicative,' telling him of her horn e, her parents, her four brothers and sisters, her favorite name (she didn"t like her O\Vn, ,vhich ,vas Pon1onn). ,:She even -askedme ,v-hich,vas n1y fayourite colour." She told hin1of a recent tiff ,vith a lad of her acquaintance., tossing her head "at the recollection of each tell- ing point of their conversation .... I ,vas satisfied to be vanquished by this da1nsel. Her childlike candour, her sprightly simplicity, and her na1ve self-betrayal captivated me, 3S did also the many·-co]oured .flo,versof half-conscious coquetry thut blosson1cd in her prattle ... 4 4 She had been born in a n1erry hour.' The train began to slo,v do\vn, \ind in an instant came the sobering reflection that there is a parting at the root of all our jo)rs, 4 •• I phtccd her little satchel and umbre1la by her side. Her eyes met mine 4 4 • ,vith a g1anc·e of trustful good- 1vilL .. 4 We sccni.ed to have kno,vn each other for _ . years; ,ve \VCrc scr ious, ,v c ,vcrc good friends. There ,vas a bric f silence, a sud- den handshaking, and then ~n everlasting Fare,velH., It is not by acci---- dcnt that children appear frequently both in Locker's autobiography and in J1ispoems. A trait th at la)r close to the center of Locker" s character ,vas his gcn- erosit)T. It ,vas, so to spe-ak,the active principle in his unselfishness;and Birrell s-aidof hin1 that 'of all the 1nen I have ever kno,vn he ,vas the n1ostunselfish.' 111 Of the various fonns that this quality took., the most obvious ,vas his cease.lessgift-giving, of ,vhich those ,vho kne,v hin1 best ha ye borne , vitness ,vi th sotn e thing like ast onis1unen t. If is )r o u n ge r son Oliver, ,vriting t,,..enty-six years after his father's death., notes the quietness und deftness ,vith ,vhich his father ,vent about his acts of generosity. 142 Fol]o,ving a discussion of Locker's emphasis on taste, his son-in-1a,v ,vrote: 'But stronger even than his taste ,vas his ... love of kindness. . . 4 It seemed as if he could not spare himself. I remember his calling at my·chambers one hot da)r in July, ,vhen he hap- pened to have ,vith hin1some pres~nts he ,vas in the course of deliver- ing. Among them I noticed a bust of \ 1 olra.ire and an unusu~Uy lively u.i A ugu seine Birrel1 1 T/:Jing s pi1st Redress (London~ 19J 7), p. r i 1. iu S crlbne ri s I LXIXi 466.. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Harvard Library Bulletin tortoise, generally half ,vay out of a paper bag. '~'herever he ,vent he found occ::1sionfor kindness, and his ,vhin1sical adventures ,vould fill a volume.' HJ Bjrrcll ndds that he hi1nsclfsometin1cs thought of entering a hon1e for old gentlcn1en 'in order to h-avethe plcasllre of receiving in n1y nc\v quarters n .first visit fro1n l\1r. Locker. Ho\v pleasantly he \vould have n1ountcd the stair, ]aden ,vith \vho kno,vs ,vhat sma11gifts? a hox of mignonette for the ,vindo,v-si11, an old book or t\vo, as likely as not a live kitten, for indeed there ,vas never an end to the varjet) 7 and ingenuity of his offerings! Ho,v felicitous ,vould have been his greet- ing~ Ho\v cordial his complin1ents! Ho,v abiding the sense of his unpatronizing friendliness.' His generous instincts took ,nany other for111s, an1ong thc111habitual hospitality and an unfailing readiness to lend a .sy·n1patheticcar to people in 1nisfortunc. ~All do,vn-hearted folk 1 sorro ,v fu 1, disappointed people, the u n Iu cky, the. ill-considered, th c 111esestin1es4 • turned jnstinctive]3i to 1\{r. Locker for a consolation, so soft Iy ad ministerc d that it \ vas hard to sa}T it ,vas intended.' ,,,. ere a search to be n1ade for motives behind all this openhanded kindness, it is possible no doubt to suspect that it ,vas based on an un- conscious desire to be 1iked, or to bolster his ego in son1e other ,vay4 Yet a study, of the \vhole record is at least as likely to lead to the con- clusion that he ,vas impelled mainly by a si1npleand disinterested ,vish to gi,~epleasure 1 perhaps reinf arced by a hope that he n1ight in some degree keep those about hin1 fron1 experiencing the unhappiness he hitnself had kno,vn .. 1\1ADISOJ\T C. BATES (To be concl11ded) CoRRIGENDU!rt.1 Locker "s pcri o d of sc rvic;e in the Ad n~ira Ity ,vas consi clera bl y Ionger than is indicated on pages 97 and 99 of the first installment. The R.ecord Office of the Adn1iralty has kindly furnished a s111nrnaryof J...ockerts service 1 as foHo"·s: 29 AL1rch 1841,. com1nenccd duty as a Tctnporary Clerk in the Admiralt)'\ Son1erset House; 8 October 1 842, transferred to th c Ad 1niralcy \:VIli tel la 11, as a 1 ..emporary CJerk; i 2 Noven1ber 1 84"2.1 pro1n~ted Third Class Clerk; 1 o Scp tctn bcr-1 o Dec c1nb er 1849i ] cavc of ab.,en cc o,ving to il 1 he.a]th; , 4 No- ve1nb er 1B53,Deputy Reader to Board ( \\rith additjon to salary); 1 April r 85 5, promoted Third Class Clerk, First .Section; 15 October 1858~ pron1oted Second :1~~ Quotations to end of paragraph fro1n Birrdlj Lo.cker-La,upron,pp. 81~81. I Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) 'Tbnt Deligbtful Mrui" Cl-assClerk~ 2 7 October 186i, pensioned. In Afy Confidences~pages 145-150, Locker gives a sketch of his duties at ,Vhitchall during the Crimean ,var and the Indian 1\1u tiny~ tc1]j ng of hjs read j ng of dispatches to the asscn1b] c d Board of ' '~seadogs'' ,vith tl g h t1y spliced pj gt-ai] s and \\ridc nslo ps/' ' and of a 1nis- ad \rentu re .,.,,ith Sir Chnr1es \Vood, Fl rst Lord 1 o,rer a n1ap of the Dardanelles . .A.JI in alJJ ten First Lord~ governed the Admirn.lty clur.ing J... ocket's n1ore than nveaty·-une years of scrvk:c. His rctirerncnt canJc~ he says (1lfy Co11[ide-11cesi p:lge 147 ) 1 because J1is hca1th gave ..vay. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959) Corrigenda [N the preceding issue· of the Bu1..LET1N, XIII~ 1 (\Vinter r959) Page 37, line 21, sbould -retrd,in 11-point type and r-!.Vithpnrngrapb i11- dentation: · Little Pope (,vho is much yours) informs me of a Storie book, ,vhich he I'nge 128,. lines 2 5-27,,sbould read: Ry conversion of dates, it ,vould appear th,at The Sultff11& the Der-vis-b ,vas issued A.O. 192 5 or 1926. List of Co11tributors ERNSTi\fAYRt Professor of Zoology ju the l\1useum of ComparatiYc Zoology and Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, I-Iarv~rd University RonERT LEE \1/ Oi.l'F, Prof css or of History 1 Harvard Uni Vf:.rsii:.y }A'KoH RosF.NilF.RGt Professor of Fine Arts and Curator of the Print Dcpartn1ent of the '''i]Ham Hayes Fogg Art i\luseun1~ Harvard University JoA~ E. 1-IARTl\·Li\N, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Radcliffe College l\-lAn1so,iC. BATES,Professor of English, Emerit'us, Rutgers University HUGI I B. STAl!L 1::siAssistant Professor of En glis 1t, No rth,\ 1 ester n Uni versi t:y Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIII, Number 2 (Spring 1959)