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The Letters of Emily Dickinson

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0 of 4 copies available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
0 of 4 copies available
Wait time: About 4 weeks

One of the Top 10 "Books We Love" —Fresh Air
The definitive edition of Emily Dickinson's correspondence, expanded and revised for the first time in over sixty years.
Emily Dickinson was a letter writer before she was a poet. And it was through letters that she shared prose reflections—alternately humorous, provocative, affectionate, and philosophical—with her extensive community. While her letters often contain poems, and some letters consist entirely of a single poem, they also constitute a rich genre all their own. Through her correspondence, Dickinson appears in her many facets as a reader, writer, and thinker; social commentator and comedian; friend, neighbor, sister, and daughter.
The Letters of Emily Dickinson is the first collected edition of the poet's correspondence since 1958. It presents all 1,304 of her extant letters, along with the small number available from her correspondents. Almost 300 are previously uncollected, including letters published after 1958, letters more recently discovered in manuscript, and more than 200 "letter-poems" that Dickinson sent to correspondents without accompanying prose. This edition also redates much of her correspondence, relying on records of Amherst weather patterns, historical events, and details about flora and fauna to locate the letters more precisely in time. Finally, updated annotations place Dickinson's writing more firmly in relation to national and international events, as well as the rhythms of daily life in her hometown. What emerges is not the reclusive Dickinson of legend but a poet firmly embedded in the political and literary currents of her time.
Dickinson's letters shed light on the soaring and capacious mind of a great American poet and her vast world of relationships. This edition presents her correspondence anew, in all its complexity and brilliance.

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    • Kirkus

      January 1, 2024
      A newly expanded, annotated edition of the poet's letters, the first in more than 60 years. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) is one of the most recognizable poets in history. Yet, as the editors note in the introduction, she "was a letter writer before she was a poet." She was a prolific and passionate correspondent, and this new edition contains 1,304 of her letters, "as well as all of the extant letters that [she] received." This extraordinary collection shows her to be a masterful prose writer, and, contrary to her popular image as a recluse, the letters reveal that "Dickinson was by no means an isolated, lonely, woman." The editors include hundreds of new letters, redate many of the previously published ones based on careful research, and provide essential annotations. Additionally, where possible, they restore omissions by previous letter transcribers. In some cases, the restorations are critical to our ability to reevaluate who Dickinson was in relation to those in her correspondence. While her prose writing is noteworthy in itself, the editors also include many "letter-poems." Dickinson frequently sent poems in her correspondence, often without an accompanying note. Included in this edition alongside her regular letters, they provide beautiful texture to the collection. Perhaps the most delightful materials, though, are the writing notes. Like many writers, Dickinson collected scraps of language and fragments of poems, which she may have used to draft both her letters and poems. Seeing them together shows how "a retained metaphor or sequence of language might serve as the germ of a letter, or it might linger in her workshop until a letter seemed just right to house it, just as a poem might begin with a resonant phrase." The notes, in particular, provide illuminating insight into the mind and process of a truly brilliant writer. An exciting new standard in Dickinson scholarship.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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