To Emerson on The Atlantic - photo 1

To Emerson on The Atlantic

Lot 267
16.06.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Classic
Sold
$ 6 048
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967467
Lot 267 | To Emerson on The Atlantic
Estimate value
$ 6 000 – 8 000
LOWELL, James Russell (1819-1891). Autograph letter signed ("JR Lowell" and again "JRR" in text) to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Cambridge, 19 November 1857.

Four pages, bifolium, 175 x 111mm (separation to spine fold). Custom green cloth clamshell.

Writing to R.W. Emerson about the founding of The Atlantic Monthly and his essay "Solitude and Society." A superb letter between two literary giants concerning the foundation of one of the most influential publications of the last two centuries. An important letter by the magazine's first editor to Emerson. Emerson was present at the dinner-party given by Moses Dressler Philips where Philips announced his intention to found what soon became as one of the finest publications in the English-speaking world. It is still in print and influential with its shortened title, The Atlantic. Lowell opens commenting on the public reaction to Emerson's poetic contribution to the first issue: "You have seen, no doubt, how the Philistines have been parodying your 'Brahma' - and showing how they still believe in their special god Baal & are unable to arrive at a conception of an omnipresent Deity. I have not yet met with a clever one or I would have sent it to you for your amusement." Validating the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity, Lowell observes that Emerson's detractors "are advertising the Atlantic in the very best way, & Mr. [Francis H.] Underwood tells me that the orders for the second number are doubling those for the first." Lowell predicts that Emerson would find the second issue "an improvement," over the first and offers a preview of its contents, mentioning pieces by many of the most prominent American writers of the nineteenth century, including Prescott, Bryant, Longfellow, Holmes and Whittier himself, and adding that he thought it "is a very good list." Emerson's latest poetic contribution was "to go into No 3, simply as a matter of housewifery because we had already three articles at $50…."

Emerson's essay, "Solitude and Society," was to appear in the forthcoming second issue (and is listed No. 12 in this letter), which Lowell claims "has only one fault – that it is not longer, but had it been only a page there would have been enough in it." Lowell then asks, if Lowell used "the word daysman deliberately? It has a technical meaning & I suppose you used it in that sense. Mr. Nichols (the vermilion pencil) was outraged & appealed to me. I answered that you had a right to use any word you liked till we found some one who wrote better English to correct you. Or did you mean the word to be merely the English of journeyman?" (Lowell was referring to the line: "He envied every daysman and drover in the tavern in their manly speech." See, The Atlantic Monthly, December 1857, p. 225). Lowell offers his hope that Emerson would be able to supply "something more for No 3 before you go off to lecture. The number promises well thus far - but I wish to make it a decided advance. You have no notion how hard tested we are - out of 297 Mss – only at most 6 accepted. I begin to believe in the total depravity of Contributions." He closes thanking Emerson, "in special for one line in 'Brahma' which abides with me as an intimate[:] "'When one they fly, I am the wings' You have crammed meaning there with an hydraulic press. Will not Thoreau give us something from Moosehead?" Provenance: Christie's East, 14 May 1997, lot 115.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
16.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

More from Creator

Soliciting a submission from Nathaniel Hawthorne
Soliciting a submission from Nathaniel Hawthorne
$100
Ode recited at the Commemoration of the Living and Dead Soldiers of Harvard University
Ode recited at the Commemoration of the Living and Dead Soldiers of Harvard University
$100
Hawthorne's copy of Conversations on some of the Old Poets
Hawthorne's copy of Conversations on some of the Old Poets
$4 000
The manuscript for
The manuscript for "An apology for a Preface"
$100
The manuscript for
The manuscript for "On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners"
$100
Class Poem
Class Poem
$100
Sending a poem for publication
Sending a poem for publication
$100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>