1. Emily Dickinson

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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