Public Poet, Private Man
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A01=Christoph Irmscher
American literary heritage
archival discoveries
artistic parenting practices
author-reader relationships
Author_Christoph Irmscher
authorial self-fashioning
Category=DNBL
children's imaginative entertainment
classical epic translation history
creative domestic routines
cross-border cultural exchange
cultural cosmopolitanism
curated insights into authorial worlds
Divine Comedy reception in America
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eq_biography-true-stories
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eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
European journeys shaping poets
evolving American identity in art
friendship networks among authors
global influences on U.S. poetry
global literary dialogues
handwritten drafts and notes
Harvard literary exhibitions
heritage photography collections
historic sketchbooks
historical context for creativity
Houghton Library treasures
immersive biographical studies
intersections of family and craft
intimate archival materials
intimate glimpses of artistic process
legacy of prominent U.S. writers
linguistic mastery in creative work
literary diplomacy
literary sociability
memorabilia from literary households
multilingual literary scholarship
museum-based literary interpretation
National Historic Site resources
nineteenth-century book culture
nineteenth-century verse legacy
personal artifacts of writers
poet as cultural mediator
poet-traveler traditions
private drawings and doodles
public persona versus home life
rare manuscript collections
reader engagement in earlier eras
reception of major U.S. poets
transnational artistic currents
Victorian family life
visual storytelling by writers
writerly collaboration
Product details
- ISBN 9781558495845
- Weight: 363g
- Dimensions: 149 x 228mm
- Publication Date: 09 Jun 2009
- Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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This work presents a portrait of Longfellow as professional author, devoted friend, and family man. The most popular American poet of his day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was a multiculturalist before the term was invented. He passionately believed in the value of foreign travel and conceived of American literature as deeply 'transatlantic'. A polyglot poet-scholar, the first American to translate Dante's entire ""Divine Comedy"", he was also a hands-on, unconventional father who produced numerous Edward Lear - like drawings for the entertainment of his children. Based on an exhibition at Harvard's Houghton Library and originally published as a special issue of the ""Harvard Library Bulletin"", this volume offers an innovative view of the poet's personal life, his connection with his audience, and his efforts to add an international dimension to American literature. Profusely illustrated with manuscripts, drawings, and photographs from the extensive collections of Houghton Library and the Longfellow National Historic Site, it demonstrates how intensely involved Longfellow was in family, fatherhood, and friendship. It also shows how these supposedly 'private' aspects of his life constantly intersected with the more public aspects of his understanding of authorship, his collaborative projects, and his commitment to his readers. The result is a vivid introduction to Longfellow's world.
CHRISTOPH IRMSCHER is professor of English at Indiana University and author of Longfellow Redux and The Poetics of Natural History: From John Bartram to William James.
