Evening star., 1945-04-08

inson, came to feel a fierce jealousy
of Mrs. Todd for the latter's asso-
citation with her sisters name, and
in this part of the narrative there
is not only the key to the mys-
terry of the nonpublication, but
also incidental light of mucn sig
nificance on Emily's famous with
draWal from all society. For, as
Mrs. Bingham tells the tale, we
see dullness, a philistinism, lack
of enlightment in certain of her
associates which relieves her self
imposed solitude of need of any
further explanation.
The final outcome of Lavinia S
jealousy was an event which illus
trates the statement. She brought
suit against Mrs. Todd. The case
was not directly connected with the
poems. for it dealt with owner
ship of a piece of land which Austin
Dickinson had decided to the Todds
as a gift. Yet the poems were in
directly concerned, for the present
was meant to be in some sort COM
pensation to Mrs. Todd for her
largely unremunerated editorial
labors. That sordid little drama
played out in provincial court, was
responsible for the deprivation to
the public OF great part of Emily
Dickinson's shining work.
Poems Locked Away.
For the insulting charge affected
Mrs. Todd profoundly, as her daugh-
ter, Millicent Todd Bingham, re-
lates in Ancestors Brocades" She
put the remaining poems away in
a camphorwood chest with a lock
which. "as you turn the key, plays
a little tune" and there they stayed,
untouched, an inestimable literary
treasure, until 1929. Mrs. Todd
then, with Emily's centenary ap-
preaching. consented, with her
daughters help, to renew her long
interrupted labors. When her death
occurred in 1882, Mrs. Bingham ac-
cepted, as an inheritance, the
literary trust. The two present
volumes are the fruit of her labor.
The long involved story of the
publications of the nineties is con-
tained in Ancestors Brocades." 1t
is told through excerpts from Mrs.
Todds journals, her correspondence
with Col. Higginson. the publisher
and the individuals who loaned her
their letters from Emily. and also
in quoted reviews. 1t is most
detailed record.
Difficult Editing Task.
The difficulties of editing Emily
Dickinson appear in it as extraord-
mary. Facsimiles of her pages
show an almost indecipherable
handwriting and an intricate
method of composition. In many
poems there are, instead of a single
chosen word a list of possible
choices. Many, Mrs Bingham rec
ords, were jotted on leaves torn
from old notebooks. on soiled and
mildeWed subscription blanks. or on
department or drug store bargain
flyers one of them wrapping
chocolat Meunier on the re-
verse of recipes on household
shopping lists, on cutoff margins
of newspapers and on the inside
of their brown-paper wrappings."
Fulfilling a Literary Mission.
Into this romantic but labor
breeding confusion, Mrs. Bingham
went, aware that she was fulfilling
both a personal and literary mis-
sion. Her mothers list. made in
1891, contained 926 first lines From
these, she has brought 668 poems,
500 of which are in a complete
state, the others either unfinished
or mere fragments. Beyond doubt,
some of the finest of Emily Dickin-
sons work is included in the volume.
So comes to an end long un-
happy obscurity, the conclusion a
rich gift to the literature of our
country, to the poetry of the whole
world. NC. R.
The Aeronautical Dictionary, by
Thomas Dickinson. (CromwellD
Six thousand terms defined. Draw
ings and photographs to illustrate.
Nautical Mathematics and Marine
Navigation. by S. A. Walling. j. C..
Hill and C. J. Rees. (Macmillan)
A popular text designed to teach
the essentials.
Dynamic Singing, by Louis Bach
ner. d. B. Fischer) A text on
proper MANAGEMENT of the voice.