Mabel Loomis Todd
Encyclopedia
Mabel Loomis Todd or Mabel Loomis (November 10, 1856 – October 14, 1932) was an American editor and writer, and the wife of the astronomer David Peck Todd
. She is remembered as the editor of posthumously published editions of Emily Dickinson
.
. She graduated from Georgetown Seminary in Washington, D.C.
, then studied music at the New England Conservatory in Boston
.
On March 5, 1879, she married astronomer David Peck Todd
, with whom she had one daughter, Millicent. Mabel Loomis Todd had a passionate sexual nature and wrote freely about it. She wrote soon after her marriage: "Sweet communions. Oh joy! Oh! Bliss unutterable" and "A little Heaven just after dinner." In May 1879, the day she got pregnant, she noted: "A very happy few minutes of love in our room."
She later had an affair with Austin Dickinson
, the (married) brother of Emily. According to Peter Gay's book, as reviewed in Time Magazine
of January 23, 1984,
Todd kissed Austin Dickinson after he had died, kissed "the dear body, every inch of which I know and love so utterly." As described by Lyndall Gordon, the affair—romanticized by Todd descendants—actually devastated Sue Dickinson, the wife of Austin, and impacted the writing of Emily, who is said to have had to witness audibly the ongoing affair, and to have been routinely displaced from her place of creative work to provide it an ongoing venue.
Mabel Todd never met Emily Dickinson
in person, and though the two women exchanged letters, it has been said that "Mabel effectively destroyed the Dickinson family". It is also fair to say that without Mabel Loomis Todd, Dickinson's poetry would never have been published in book form and would never have reached a world-wide audience. After Emily's death in 1886, hundreds of her unpublished poems were discovered and Todd took to herself the task, with Dickinson family consent, to copy and organize the poems. The first volume of Poems by Emily Dickinson was published in 1890, and included many alterations by Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson collaborated with Todd on Poems: Second Series in 1891. Higginson withdrew from further editorial collaboration so Todd edited a two volume set of Dickinson's letters (1894) and Poems: Third Series (1896) on her own.
In 1896, Todd and the Dickinson family had a falling-out over a legal battle regarding property owned by Austin Dickinson. As a result, Emily Dickinson's manuscripts were split between the two families. In 1945, Todd's daughter Millicent published some of the poems from Todd's portion of the manuscripts.
Todd was a member of the Audubon Society.
Mabel Loomis Todd died in Hog Island, Maine
.
David Peck Todd
David Peck Todd was a noted American astronomer. He produced a complete set of photographs of the 1882 transit of Venus.-Biography:...
. She is remembered as the editor of posthumously published editions of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
.
Biography
Todd was born Mabel Loomis in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. She graduated from Georgetown Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, then studied music at the New England Conservatory in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
On March 5, 1879, she married astronomer David Peck Todd
David Peck Todd
David Peck Todd was a noted American astronomer. He produced a complete set of photographs of the 1882 transit of Venus.-Biography:...
, with whom she had one daughter, Millicent. Mabel Loomis Todd had a passionate sexual nature and wrote freely about it. She wrote soon after her marriage: "Sweet communions. Oh joy! Oh! Bliss unutterable" and "A little Heaven just after dinner." In May 1879, the day she got pregnant, she noted: "A very happy few minutes of love in our room."
She later had an affair with Austin Dickinson
William Austin Dickinson
William Austin Dickinson was an American lawyer. Known to family and friends as "Austin", he was the older brother of the poet Emily Dickinson....
, the (married) brother of Emily. According to Peter Gay's book, as reviewed in Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
of January 23, 1984,
Todd kissed Austin Dickinson after he had died, kissed "the dear body, every inch of which I know and love so utterly." As described by Lyndall Gordon, the affair—romanticized by Todd descendants—actually devastated Sue Dickinson, the wife of Austin, and impacted the writing of Emily, who is said to have had to witness audibly the ongoing affair, and to have been routinely displaced from her place of creative work to provide it an ongoing venue.
Mabel Todd never met Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
in person, and though the two women exchanged letters, it has been said that "Mabel effectively destroyed the Dickinson family". It is also fair to say that without Mabel Loomis Todd, Dickinson's poetry would never have been published in book form and would never have reached a world-wide audience. After Emily's death in 1886, hundreds of her unpublished poems were discovered and Todd took to herself the task, with Dickinson family consent, to copy and organize the poems. The first volume of Poems by Emily Dickinson was published in 1890, and included many alterations by Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson collaborated with Todd on Poems: Second Series in 1891. Higginson withdrew from further editorial collaboration so Todd edited a two volume set of Dickinson's letters (1894) and Poems: Third Series (1896) on her own.
In 1896, Todd and the Dickinson family had a falling-out over a legal battle regarding property owned by Austin Dickinson. As a result, Emily Dickinson's manuscripts were split between the two families. In 1945, Todd's daughter Millicent published some of the poems from Todd's portion of the manuscripts.
Todd was a member of the Audubon Society.
Mabel Loomis Todd died in Hog Island, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Own works
- Footprints (1883)
- Total Eclipses of the Sun (1894)
- Corona and Coronet (1898)
- A Cycle of Sunsets (1910)
- Tripoli the Mysterious (1912)