Paging: Emily Dickinson's Herbarium

I’m introducing a new category of Saturday essay for my readers. Heretofore I’ve offered “Craft” pieces, which are close readings of poems and mini-biographies of mainly forgotten or underrated poets. I’ve also offered “Writing Problem” pieces, which are about technical or psychological issues in writing poetry. 

These new essays, which I’m calling “Paging” will be similar to the “Craft” essays, but about rare, out-of-print, or unknown books from my collection. Some are exceedingly rare. Most of the books I plan to write about are very hard to find, if at all, but they represent periods of poetry historiography that are overlooked or understudied. 

I will continue to offer periodic “Craft” and “Writing Problem” pieces along with this new series which I hope will hold your attention.

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From 1839 to 1846, when Emily Dickinson was between 9 and 16 years old, she collected more than 400 flowers and plants which she pressed and assembled in an album called an Herbarium. In the mid-19th century, Dickinson noticed, “most all the girls are making one.” 

Dickinson’s entire Herbarium has been digitized by Harvard University. A large-format book that was a facsimile of her original was also made in limited quantities in 2006, but it is now out-of-print, and only a few used copies exist.