Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830 –1886) Born in Amherst, Massachusetts to a wealthy and influential family She studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years as a young girl She also spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary

Reclusive Thought of as eccentric or strange by neighbors She mostly wore all white clothing Had very few visitors or guests Later in life she hardly ever left her room Most of her friendships were carried out by correspondence (letters)

Poetry Dickinson was a prolific private poet writing nearly 1800 poems However, only less than a dozen were published during her lifetime The works that were published were significantly altered by the publishers to fit the typical poetic form of the time

Publication (Don’t Need to Copy) After Dickinson’s death her sister Lavinia found about forty notebooks and loose sheets gathered in a locked chest Lavinia recognized the poems' worth and became obsessed with seeing them published She first asked her brother William Austin's wife Susan, who was particularly close with Emily, for help Lavina eventually turned to Mabel Loomis Todd, Austin’s mistress, for assistance

Battle Over Rights (Don’t Need to Copy) A feud ensued, with ownership of the manuscripts divided between the Todd and Dickinson houses The first volume of Dickinson's Poems, edited jointly by Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson, appeared in November 1890 Although Todd claimed that only essential changes were made, the poems were extensively edited The first 115-poem volume was a critical and financial success, going through eleven printings in two years