Lives Like Loaded Guns_ Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds - Lyndall Gordon [0]
Copyright Page
Title Page
Dedication
I: A POET NEXT DOOR
II: ‘A STILL—VOLCANO—LIFE’
Chapter 1 - THE FIRST FAMILY
Chapter 2 - A SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION
Chapter 3 - SISTER
Chapter 4 - ‘WIFE WITHOUT THE SIGN’
Chapter 5 - ‘SNARL IN THE BRAIN’
Chapter 6 - TELLING
Chapter 7 - ROMANCING JUDGE LORD
Chapter 8 - SPLIT IN THE FAMILY
III: MABEL’S REIGN
Chapter 9 - EMILY’S STAND
Chapter 10 - LADY MACBETH OF AMHERST
Chapter 11 - MABEL IN EXCELSIS
IV: THE WAR BETWEEN THE HOUSES
Chapter 12 - LAVINIA’S STAND
Chapter 13 - THE TRIAL
Chapter 14 - DEFEATS OF THE FIRST GENERATION
Chapter 15 - TWO DAUGHTERS
Chapter 16 - THE BATTLE OF THE DAUGHTERS
Chapter 17 - POSTHUMOUS CAMPAIGNS
V: OUTLIVING THE LEGEND
SOURCES
NOTES
Acknowledgements
PERMISSIONS
INDEX
POEMS: INDEX OF FIRST LINES
VIKING
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Copyright © Lyndall Gordon, 2010 All rights reserved
Pages viii-x and 474 constitute an extension of this copyright page.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Gordon, Lyndall.
Lives like loaded guns : Emily Dickinson and her family’s feuds / Lyndall Gordon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-1-101-19019-7
1. Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886—Family. 2. Poets, American—19th century—Family relationships. 3. Amherst
(Mass.)—Intellectual life—19th century. I. Title.
PS1541.Z5G66 2010
811’.4—dc22
[B]
2009046311
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
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Also by Lyndall Gordon
T. S. ELIOT: AN IMPERFECT LIFE
VIRGINIA WOOLF: A WRITER’S LIFE
SHARED LIVES (A MEMOIR)
CHARLOTTE BRONTË: A PASSIONATE LIFE
A PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY JAMES: TWO WOMEN AND HIS ART
VINDICATION: A LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT
‘My Life has stood—a Loaded Gun’
EMILY DICKINSON
‘It was a devilish situation for everyone concerned’
MILLICENT TODD BINGHAM
In memory of
Diane Middlebrook,
biographer and friend
The Dickinson Family Tree
IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE1
WILLIAM AUSTIN DICKINSON: Only brother to the poet, Emily Dickinson. Lived next door at The Evergreens in Amherst, Massachusetts.
SUSAN (SUE) DICKINSON: Girlhood friend, sister-in-law and keen reader of Emily Dickinson’s poems. Shared books with the poet.
LAVINIA (VINNIE) DICKINSON: Emily’s devoted younger sister.
MABEL LOOMIS TODD: Co-editor and then editor of the first volumes of Emily Dickinson’s