Emily Dickinson Collection, 1859-1907
| Boston Public Library Archival and Manuscript Finding Aid Database
Collection Identifier: MS Am. 1093
Extent: 150.0 Items
Predominant Dates: 1862-1891

Arranged chronologically.

This collection contains approximately 70 letters and 43 poems sent by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911). Also included are letters written between Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd regarding the publication of Dickinson’s poems.

In 1862, Emily Dickinson responded to an article by Thomas Wentworth Higginson entitled "Letter to a Young Contributor", which formed a personal and professional relationship between the two and resulted in the first-time publication of many of Dickinson’s poems.


Restrictions: Collection is open for research.
Rights: The President and Fellows of Harvard College claim the sole ownership of and sole literary rights and copyrights therein to the texts of Emily Dickinson. For permission to quote from or reproduce from manuscript material of Dickinson, contact the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, Houghton Library. For permission to quote from published editions of Dickinson's work that are still in copyright (such as the Johnson and Franklin editions of the poems), you must contact Harvard University Press.
Acquisition Note:
Donated to the Boston Public Library by Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1911.
Collection Material Type: Papers
Scope and Contents: This collection contains approximately 70 letters and 43 poems sent by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The letters provide insight into their relationship, particularly Higginson’s role as her “teacher” and Dickinson’s personal life. Also included are letters written between Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd regarding the publication of Dickinson’s poems. Many of the letters Dickinson sent to Higginson appear in The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright 1958, 1986 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Many of the poems appear in The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright, 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Documents and Files:
Blazing in Gold
Emily Dickinson Papers
Emily Dickinson, Amherst Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, about 1863
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter fragment to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February 1879
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Helen Hunt Jackson, September 1884
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 17 March 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 25 April 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 27 September 1870
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 7 June 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 9 June 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1869
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, March 1872
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, November 1871
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Mary Channing Higginison, Spring 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Mary Channing Higginson, Christmas 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Mary Channing Higginson, early Spring 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Mary Channing Higginson, late summer 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 15 April 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, December 1878
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, January 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, July 1874
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1874
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, March 1880
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, October 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, September 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: A Death blow is a life blow to some, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: A route of evanescence, 1880
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: After all birds have been investigated and laid aside, 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Ample make this bed, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: As imperceptibly as Grief, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Because that you are going, 1874
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Blazing in Gold, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Dominion lasts until obtained, 1873
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Faithful to the end, 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Further in summer than the birds, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: He preached upon Breadth, 1872
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: How know it from a Summer's day, Autumn 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: I have no life but this, 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: I'll tell you how the Sun rose, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: It sounded as if the streets were running, 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Longing is like the seed, 1873
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Mine enemy is growing old, 1880
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: No brigadier throughout the year, 1883
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Not any higher stands the grave, 1873
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Of all the Sounds dispatched abroad, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Of tribulation these are they, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Remembrance has a rear and front, 1871
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: She laid her docile Crescent down, 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Some keep the Sabbath going to church, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: South winds jostle them, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Step lightly on this narrow spot, 1871
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Success is counted sweetest, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Days that we can spare, 1871
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Heart is the Capital of the Mind, 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The last of Summer is delight, 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The luxury to apprehend, 1867
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Mind lives on the Heart, 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The nearest Dream recedes unrealized, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Rat is the concisest Tenant, 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Savior must have been, 1880
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The Sea said "Come" to the Brook, 1872
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: The soul unto itself, 1863
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: There came a day at summer's full, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: To disappear enhances, 1872
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: To undertake is to achieve, 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: When I hoped I feared, 1871
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph manuscript poem: Your riches taught me poverty, 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 16 August 1870
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 27 January 1866
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 6 October 1862
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Margaret Higginson, Spring 1884
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Mary Channing Higginson, Summer 1877
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 16 July 1867
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 19 January 1878
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, about 1873
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, about 1873
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, about 1879
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February-March 1876
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, late April 1883
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, May 1886
Emily Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, September 1877
Emily Dickinson, Cambridgeport, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, early June 1864
Frances Lavinia Norcross, Concord, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 19 July 1891
Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 23 December 1890
Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 7 October 1891
Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 9 October 1890
Lavinia Norcross Dickinson, Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 4 February 1892
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed (initials) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 13 August 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed (initials) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 20 August 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed (initials) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 24 August 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed (initials) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 25 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 13 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 18 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 18 May 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 22 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 23 August 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 23 August 1893
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 24 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 6 October 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 9 July 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Wyoming, N.Y., autograph letter signed (initials) to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 8 September 1891
Mabel Loomis Todd, Wyoming, N.Y., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 10 September 1891
The Flower must not blame the bee
The Moon upon her fluent route
The Wind began to rock the Grass
They dropped like flakes
Thomas Wentworth Higginson typed note, 19??
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter fragment to Mary Channing Higginson, 17 August 1870
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Amherst, Mass., autograph letter to Mary Channing Higginson, 16 August 1870
Your Gnome (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February 1863
Your Pupil (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, August 1877
Your Pupil (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, March 1878
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 6 August 1885
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, about 1881
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, August 1862
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, August 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, December 1879
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, early 1877
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February 1885
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, February-March 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, January 1874
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, January 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, July 1862
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, July 1875
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1877
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1878
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, late 1872
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, late April 1886
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, late October 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, November 1878
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, November 1880
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, November 1880
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Spring 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Spring 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Spring 1876
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph letter signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Spring 1886
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, early Autumn 1877
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, June 1875
Your Scholar (Emily Dickinson), Amherst, Mass., autograph note signed to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, September 1877