A Guide to the Papers of Amy Lowell, 1903-1925
A Collection in
The Clifton Waller Barrett Library
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 6653, -a, -b, -c, -d, -e and 7267-a
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Preferred Citation
Papers of Amy Lowell, Accession #6653, -a, -b, -c, -d, -e and 7267-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
6653: Deposit, October 24, 1961. Gift July 1, 1991; 6653-a: Purchase, February 18, 1963; 6653-b: Purchase, February 16, 1965; 6653-c: Purchase, May 13, 1965; 6653-d: Purchase, February 8, 1967; 6653-e: Purchase, June 14, 1967; 7267-a: Gift and Purchase, June 15, 1984.
Biographical Information
Born February 9, 1874, in Brookline, MA; died of a stroke, May 12, 1925, in Brookline, MA; daughter of Augustus and Katherine Bigelow (Lawrence) Lowell; partner of Ada Dwyer Russell (a secretary and editor). Attended Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1917-18, Tufts College, 1918, and Columbia University, 1920; Baylor University, Litt.D., 1920. Awarded Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1926, for What's O'Clock.
An oft-quoted remark attributed to poet Amy Lowell applies to both her determined personality and her sense of humor: "God made me a business woman," Lowell is reported to have quipped, "and I made myself a poet." During a career that spanned just over a dozen years, she wrote and published over 650 poems, yet scholars cite Lowell's tireless efforts to awaken American readers to contemporary trends in poetry as her more influential contribution to literary history.
In 1912, Lowell's first collection of poetry was published. A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass was termed by Dictionary of Literary Biography essayists E. Claire Healey and Laura Ingram "a typical first book, characterized by conventional themes, traditional forms, and the limitations inherent in the work of a solitary poet who had no contact with other practitioners of her art." However, the critics noted that "Lowell's honesty of expression and an occasional brilliant image provided a glimpse of what was to come." Healey and Ingram also wrote appreciatively of the design of A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass, which Lowell had based on a volume by early nineteenth-century British poet John Keats. A devotee of Keats's work since her teenage years, Lowell gradually amassed a collection of the author's papers and manuscripts that she would later mine for a weighty biography.
After beginning a career as a poet when she was well into her thirties, Lowell became an enthusiastic student and disciple of the art. One day in 1913, after reading a number of poems signed "H.D., Imagiste," she realized that her own poetry followed in much the same literary vein. The new style of poetry she had just encountered was termed "imagism" by its main proponent, Ezra Pound.
With a desire to learn more about imagism, Lowell journeyed to London with the goal of meeting with Pound; she carried with her a letter of introduction from Harriet Monroe, editor of the Chicago-based magazine Poetry. Lowell and Pound struck up a mutual friendship, and she also became acquainted with poet John Gould Fletcher and novelist Henry James; her trip was also noteworthy for her exposure to other modernist trends in the performing and visual arts. Back in Boston, Lowell undertook a campaign to make imagist poetry both a critical and financial success in the U.S. and began traveling often between the two countries. During one trip, in the summer of 1914, she became an unwitting player in the forming of factions among the imagists, with Pound formally abandoning the movement (for a few years) and Lowell then taking up editorship of an annual anthology of imagist poetry to which she had previously been a contributor. Anti-Pound factions among the writers believed that Pound's editorship of the anthology, as well as his general de facto leadership, exhibited too capricious a manner.
Lowell's editorship of these collections of imagist poetry began in 1915 with Some Imagist Poets: An Anthology, to which she also contributed; two more volumes were published in subsequent years.
During this era, Lowell was also writing poetry of her own and saw the publication of several volumes of verse, including Sword Blades and Poppy Seed in 1914, Can Grande's Castle in 1918, and Pictures of the Floating World in 1919. Lowell's own verse, highly influenced by her contact with the imagists after 1913, headed toward what she termed "unrhymed cadence," a non-metrical style she felt well-suited for the English language and based on the natural rhythms of speech. With her friend John Gould Fletcher, Lowell is credited with bringing this verse style, also called polyphonic prose, into American poetry. Lowell continued to publish volumes of poetry over the next few years, but 1921's Legends would be the last collection of her own work published before her death.
In the early 1920s Lowell took a hiatus from the art and business of poetry to pen a biography on Keats. In John Keats 's 1300 pages, she attempted to show why she felt the English writer, who died in 1821, was the spiritual forebear of imagist poetry. Lowell's in-depth chronicle of Keats's short life was structured into a near day-to-day chronology, and through the wealth of Keatsiana she had amassed over the years her biography managed to clarify some issues about the poet's personal life.
Lowell penned two books of literary criticism, 1915's Six French Poets: Studies in Contemporary Literature, and Tendencies in Modern American Poetry, published in 1917. In her later years, despite increasingly poor health, Lowell continued to devote her energies to winning over the American public to an appreciation of contemporary poetry. She undertook lecture tours, professing to relish oratorical opportunities. More importantly, she used her social connections, financial independence, and forthright personality to boost the careers of other poets, providing feedback, recommending their work to others, acting as a liaison with editors, and writing articles on the subject. Carl Sandburg was one recipient of Lowell's support.
Lowell's A Critical Fable, published in 1922, was a literary answer to A Fable for Critics, an earlier work written by her cousin James Russell Lowell. It was a lighthearted satire on the literary currents of her day and the business of writing.
By 1920 Lowell had been engaged for several years in a relationship with her secretary, Ada Dwyer Russell, an association that some of her biographers note seemed to have provided the poet with emotional stability and happiness for perhaps the first time in her life. Lowell penned several romantic odes to Russell over the years, including "The Temple," "Anticipation," and "The Taxi." Yet Lowell's health rapidly declined during the 1920s; a glandular condition had caused her to gain weight, and the excess weight then brought its own health concerns. Hernia attacks were a particular problem, and in May of 1925 she suffered a serious one; two days later she rose from her bed against medical advice and was immediately felled by a stroke. She died within a few hours.
Ada Dwyer Russell edited a trio of posthumous collections of Lowell's verse, including What's O'Clock --which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926-- East Wind, and Ballads for Sale.
Scope and Content
The Papers of Amy Lowell consist chiefly of correspondence; the single literary manuscript is an autograph quotation from the poem, "To A Friend." The correspondence is largely to Lowell's friends and publishers. Many letters are to Mr. Frederick Marsh, her editor at MacMillan Publishing Company, and his wife. There are numerous letters from Lowell to Abbie Farwell Brown, a writer and poet. Other correspondents include S. Foster Damon, author of Amy Lowell: A Chronicle.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in three series: Series I: Literary Manuscripts; Series II: Correspondence, which is arranged chronologically by correspondent; and Series III: Photographs.
Contents List
- Folder 1
Autograph quotation from "To A Friend," 1914 November,AMsS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653-b.
In a postscript underneath the quotation, Lowell writes "'Summer,' in 'A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass.'" However, it appears under "To A Friend."
- Folder 2
S. Foster Damon to Miss Brown, 1925 June 7,ALS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
With enclosure, a signed check for 2 dollars from Amy Lowell to Daniel Sargent, dated March 31, 1925. S. Foster Damon writes Miss Brown that he discovered Amy Lowell's check under a pile of things which shocked him in "more ways than one." States that it is not worth cashing.
- Folder 3
Amy Lowell to Mr. Gibbs, 1903 June 17,ALS, 3 pp. on 1 l., #6653-c.
Lowell received a note from Alice Hester Cunningham who spoke to Mr. Gibbs regarding the poem "Athanaeum" [later "Boston Athanaeum"]. States that she thinks the Atlantic is the most appropriate magazine for the poem, but her name doesn't carry any weight. Interested in the fate of the poem, which was "not written as a tract, or with any definite ideas of publication."
- Folder 4
Amy Lowell to [Robert] Johnson, 1912 February 8,ALS, 2 pp on 1 l., #6653.
Asked to send a list of her Keats manuscripts and letters, which she does not have, to the Keats Memorial in Rome. Lowell replies with a brief description of the Keats items that she possesses, including first editions and original manuscripts. Finally sends a sonnet which she wrote on Keats that merits publishing.
- Folder 5
Amy Lowell to Mr. Brown, 1915 November 16,ALS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Discusses that someone has been using her name falsely. They should have recognized the poem sent to "Missionary Herald, Yang-hoo, China" to be a hoax immediately. Fortunate that it did not make it into print. Reading Mr. Aldington's proofs who "begs to have 'honour' & kindred words, spelt with a 'u', is this too much to ask?" With typed transcription.
- Folder 6
Amy Lowell to Mr. Gallup, 1916 January 8,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., mounted. #6653.
Short note apologizing for being so long in sending the enclosed.
- Folder 7
Amy Lowell to Miss Brown, [1916 August 7],ALS, 2 pp. on 1 l., #6653.
Miss Brown and Miss [Widdeman] left without acknowledging whether they are to visit next Thursday. Lowell asks them to say "Yes!"
- Folder 8
Amy Lowell to Miss Brown, [1916 August 14],ALS, 3 pp. on 1 l., #6653.
Had a lovely time last night: "That sparkled wood, all [sides] moonlight & black shadows, will come out in a poem some day...I liked the whole spirit of everything and everybody." Hopes that "as many more as you can cram into my motor" can come to dinner.
- Folder 9
Amy Lowell to Miss Brown, 1916 October 9,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Accepts "Josephine's offer for the November meeting," but is not so happy with "Mrs. Perry's proposition" of the location, which is "war-ranted to kill any sort of joy one may have in the meeting," has a "depressing influence," and is "awful." Offers to have the meeting at her place, which has a "certain effect of weeding the undesirable old ladies out."
- Folder 10
Amy Lowell to Mrs. March, 1916 December 26,ALS, 2 pp. on 1 l., #6653.
Apologizes for late Christmas and New Year's greetings. With typed transcription.
- Folder 11
Amy Lowell to Mr. Bigelow, [ca. 1916],ALS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653-b.
Bigelow and [Harriman] should proceed at once with their work.
- Folder 12
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1917 May 3,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Tells Miss Brown that her poem is "one of the finest poems that has been written about the war," quoting some of her favorite lines. Lowell makes a request that, in "awful time," they should give a reading of war poems benefiting the Special Aid Society. If so, she would like to read Brown's poem.
- Folder 13
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1917 June 4,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Lowell sends a poem, "The Independent," which she wants Brown to like. Declines invitation to the poetry meeting because "you know my feelings about those poetry meetings." Mentions the poet Charlotte Porter under the "new regime."
- Folder 14
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1917 June 11,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Glad that Brown liked "The Breaking Out of The Flags," and mentions how well received she was at a reading at the Women's City Club. Asks if Frost is "in these parts."
- Folder 15
Amy Lowell to Mr. Bubb, 1917 August 7,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Lowell writes about the poems of Mr. Aldington, how beautiful his poems are and how "delighted" she is that the poems got into print. Lowell writes: "It is terrible to have so sensitive a poet as Mr. Aldington subjected to the cruel strain of war. We can only hope that he will come out of it safely."
- Folder 16
Amy Lowell to Mr. Bubb, 1917 August 14,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653-a.
Mentions Mrs. Aldington's poem, "Tribute." Discusses the printing of Mr. Aldington's translations of Remy de Gourmont's "Saints of Paradise." Asks Mr. Bubb to make sure the copyright matters are worked through with the French. Informs Mr. Bubb that she is adamant on one subject: "I never lend books."
- Folder 17
Amy Lowell to Mr. Marsh, 1917 August 17,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Discusses the corrections made to her proof. Decides not to take Mr. Marsh's scansion of Frost's line because it is "not so exact." Lowell then corrects him about the heritage of the Pennsylvania Dutch, and that she did not make a misnomer by describing "Mrs. Doolittle's German origin." Finally profusely thanks Mr. Marsh for correcting her proof. With two typed copies.
- Folder 18
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1917 August 17,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Thanks Mrs. Marsh for her spectacles. Just read "The Instincts of the Herd" with great interest.
- Folder 19
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1917 August 22,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Lowell tries to resolve the issues in the purchasing of her spectacles.
- Folder 20
Amy Lowell to Mr. Bubb, 1917 September 5,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653-a.
Sends thanks for Mr. Aldington's "Reverie." Corrects Bubb's translation of Remy de Gourmont's volume, which is "Divertissements," not "Divagations."
- Folder 21
Amy Lowell to Mr. Bubb, 1917 October 22,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653-a.
Apologizes for any mistakes regarding Mr. Frost, but claims "not guilty" because Mr. Frost "gave me this information himself." Lowell is writing Frost now to "find out the truth of the matter." Lowell then discusses whether "The Egoist" is a weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or bi-monthly.
- Folder 22
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1917 December 3,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Glad that Brown likes "Tendencies." Happy that Mabel Daniels set Brown's "Peace with a Sword" to music. Asks about Grace Conkling.
- Folder 23
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1918 March 4,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Accepts dinner, along with Mrs. Russell, on the "twenty-first with infinite pleasure."
- Folder 24
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1918 March 8,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Thanks Brown for "The Cross-Current." Admits that Mabel Daniels ruined Brown's "Peace with a Sword": "the dreadful way in which [musicians] chop and carve for their own end annoys me exceedingly." Praises "The Cross-Current" with its nice sense of humor.
- Folder 25
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1918 June 1,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Discusses resurgence in Emily Dickinson's poetry, as she is "coming back on this new wave of Imagism."
- Folder 26
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1918 June 26TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Concerned that she will not be able to see Mrs. Marsh for some time, since she will have guests and an operation which will make it impossible to have any visitors for some time.
- Folder 27
Amy Lowell to Mr. Marsh, 1918 October 14,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Mentions that "The Transcript" has just received its review copy. Discusses bad news, that Mrs. Russell's daughter is critical with pneumonia. Her own strength is coming back slowly. But it is helpful that her book is going so well.
- Folder 28
Amy Lowell to Mr. Jackson, 1918 December 28,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Suggests going to any bookshop or library for her books. Lists titles of her volumes for him.
- Folder 29
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1919 January 3,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Cannot attend dinner on the 9th of January because she is ill with influenza. Handwritten postscript mentions that her reading at the MacDowell Club is on January 18th.
- Folder 30
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1919 January 9,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Wishes she could accept dinner invitation for January 16th, but cannot because she is still ill. Excited to hear Mr. Marsh's introduction of her at the MacDowell Club.
- Folder 31
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Marsh, 1919 January 15,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Lowell must entirely decline her visit to the Marsh's, as she has been too ill.
- Folder 32
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1919 April 8,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
A short note informing Abbie her poem is "charming" and wondering if Thursday is good for dinner.
- Folder 33
Amy Lowell to Abbie [Brown], 1920 July 7,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Lowell tells about her time at Waco. Very hot, she mentions how everyone received their degrees "with the perspiration rolling in streams off our faces." She also talks about how she was made an honorary member of the "New York Delta of the Phi Beta Kappa Society." Lowell laughs because had she ever gone to college, she would "have stood at the tail-end" of her class. She sold "Many Swans" to the "North American Review." Finally Lowell states that another operation "looms" in the future for her. The doctor was successful in scaring her from doing anything. She then reminisces about how wonderful it was to be young and healthy.
- Folder 34
Amy Lowell to Mr. Marsh, 1921 October 5,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Happy to hear that Marsh is back in the publishing business, as he is a first class man. Wishes she could have interaction with Harpers, but is "extremely well situated" at Houghton Mifflin. Discusses the success of "Legends," Tendencies," and "Sword Blades." Looking forward to seeing the Marsh's next time she is in New York. Mr. Marsh, according to Lowell, made her time at Macmillan's extremely worthwhile: "I have no word to express my gratitude." With two typed copies.
- Folder 35
Amy Lowell to Mr. Marsh, 1922 July 22,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
"Grievance" and "Portrait" are well received. Lowell accepted to write a "monograph on the modern free forms of poetry" published in a series by Princeton University Press.
- Folder 36
Amy [Lowell] to Abbie [Brown], 1923 July 5,TLS, 2 pp. on 2 l., #6653.
Lowell chooses Sandburg for her speech at the Public Library. Debates over the best date for her lecture. Humorously comments about how she and Abbie are the only two women lecturing with the men: "we are the only two worthy to join with masculine youth, which is comforting. Ha! Ha!" Laments that she will never appreciate the country like Abbie. Still working on Keats.
- Folder 37
Amy [Lowell] to Abbie [Brown], 1923 August 3,TLS, 4 pp. on 4 l., #6653.
Sadly writes about the death of Moira O'Connor, who had a "very uncommon and terrible disease...'lymphatic leucamia,'...an incurable disease." Discusses the difficulty and grief of Grace, Moira's mother. Funeral is mentioned. Likes Abbie's poems in the "Peterborough Anthology." Keats progressing "with the heavy stump of an icthyosaurus." She finishes by saying, "I wish I could lie on my back and look at the sun, or go swimming in the salt, salt sea, or do anything but gaze at white paper and move a pencil around."
- Folder 38
Amy Lowell to Mrs. Carhart, 1923 October 27,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653-d.
Clears up misunderstanding that Lowell has any connection to "Poetry." She returns Carhart's poems.
- Folder 39
Amy Lowell to Dr. [William Norman] Guthrie, 1924 October 21,TLS, 3 pp. on 3 l., #6653-e.
Informs Dr. Guthrie that she only must rest before she gives her lecture series in England, of which she is working very hard. Because of these circumstances, Lowell cannot do anything for Dr. Guthrie. She then offers extensive explanation about the role of the church, and while she does "not desire it" or "need it," still "others do need it...." Furthermore, Lowell believes that Guthrie's theories should not be expressed "within the four walls of a church," and feels that she is not the proper person to help his theory along. Lowell ends by saying that although she admires Guthrie, she still does not agree with him.
- Folder 40
Amy Lowell to Mr. Tewson, 1925 January 24,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Is unable to answer her questionnaire because "so many adventures have led to so many different experiences, and so many experiences have played their individual parts in the whole scheme of my [Lowell's] existence that it would be impossible to disentangle one from another." Lowell apologizes, and regrets not seeing her in New York.
- Folder 41
Amy Lowell to Mr. Tewson, 1925 February 3,TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Lowell grants Tewson permission to quote from the first paragraph of her letter.
- Folder 42
Amy Lowell to Mr. Tewson, 1925 March 23TLS, 1 p. on 1 l., #6653.
Letter introducing Tewson to Mr. Basil Blackwell of Oxford.
- Folder 43
Amy Lowell to Dr. Westcott, n.d.,ALS, 2 pp. on 1 l., #6653.
Invitation to dinner on Thursday, February the 25th to meet Mr. and Mrs. Felix Adler.
- Folder 44
Portrait: Amy Lowell, seated, [ca. 1916],#6653.
Photograph by Moffett, Chicago. Verso: "The Makers of Modern American Poetry - Women: Amy Lowell," a short biography of Amy Lowell, Prepared by the Editorial Staff of the Mentor Association, copyright 1920.
- Folder 45
Postcard: Amy Lowell, seated, [ca. 1916],#7267-a.