Theodora V.W. Ward

Editing Emily

Theodora Van Wagenen Ward
Appendix D Manuscripts

View manuscripts sequentially

1   XXIV, p. 4. October 1870. Ink. Linked letters: an, ar, av, er, ey, un, ur, fe, th; capital W rounded at base; capital H made with two strokes; d made with single stroke, ascender curving to the right, and sweeping above; straight y exceptional at this date.
Manuscript

2   XXXII, p. 3. Autumn 1873. Ink. Linked letters: bl, fe; both linked and separated: th, ar, er, ev; d made with two strokes; curved y; cross strokes of t across, left, or sweeping. Word of linked in special form, showing f without loops.
Manuscript

bl	fe	d	ery

ar	ar	er	er	ev	ev

of	te	t	that

3   XXXIV, p. 3. Late January 1875. Ink. Maximum size of writing. Only linked combinations of, th (occasional er on other pages). New form of f, ascender straight, descender looped; d made with single stroke.
Manuscript

4   XXXV, p. 1. 1875? Pencil. No linked combinations except bl and of. Both kinds of d; both kinds of y - curved and straight. General appearance approximates script in slant and flowing effect.
Manuscript

bl	of	d	d	my	my

5   XL, p. 1. Early spring 1877. Pencil. Writing smaller, less slanting, wide spaces between lines; first capital W with pointed base; only one linked th; both forms of d; two y's curved, two straight. Facsimiles 5 and 6 show contrast between pen and pencil writing at the same time.
Manuscript

W	th	d	d	ry	hy

6   XLI, p. 1. Early spring 1877. Ink. No linked letters except two th's; of separated, using new form of f in use since XXXIV; capital H made with three straight strokes.
Manuscript

7    XLVI, p. 1. Early 1878. Ink. Only one linked th; first capital W in ink with pointed base; two kinds of d in same proportion; larger proportion of cross strokes of t to left of ascender than in XL and XLI, though still less than half.
Manuscript

8    LI, p. 3. October 1879. Pencil. Smaller, freer effect than earlier pencil writing; capitals smaller; capital V sharper at base; all d's made with two strokes -- after this the single stroke form appears seldom, usually at end of line; more than half the cross strokes of t to left of ascender. Initial y curved; final y straight.
Manuscript

9    LXXI, p, 3. 29? October 1882. Pencil. Letters less rounded, narrower, more slanting; most cross strokes of t to left of ascender; initial y curves over into hook at top; final y shows tendency to curve back to right at lower tip. This page gives a good example of long and short dashes used in pencil writing.
Manuscript

10    LXXXIII, p. 1. November? 1883. Pencil. Very slanting, hurried effect. Descenders of y and g curved violently back to right; cross strokes of t mostly very short, detached, to left.
Manuscript

ly	g	t

11    LXXXVI, p. 2. March 1884. Pencil. End of period in which g's curve back to right; cross strokes of t very low, detached, to left of ascender; ascender of d very low - hardly distinguishable from a.
Manuscript

g	t	d	a

12    XCIV, p. 4. Spring 1885. Pencil. Extreme slant; letters out of alignment; some, like t, lying almost horizontal above the line; to has become conventionalized sign; descender of g very short and straight; no cross strokes of t cross ascender.
Manuscript

Current Scholarship

Graphology?

For a graphologist's take on Dickinson's handwriting ==>

Theodora Van Wagenen Ward Biography

Emily Dickinson's Letters to Dr. and Mrs. Josiah Gilbert Holland, Van Wagenen Ward, Theodora. Cambridge, Harvard UP, 1951.