University of Virginia Library

A Note on Lowell Bibliography: The Review of Howells' Venetian Life
James L. Woodress, Jr.

THE North American Review index long has given Charles Eliot Norton credit for writing the most interesting notice of Howells' first important book;[1] yet Lowell almost certainly was the real author. Although the bibliographers of both Howells and Lowell have suspected Lowell's authorship,[2] no one so far has assembled conclusive data to settle this question. There is, however, ample evidence, both external and internal, to show that Lowell undoubtedly wrote the essay.

When Howells was hunting for an American publisher to share with Trübner and Company of London the risk of bringing out Venetian Life, he asked Lowell's aid in placing the book with James T. Fields. Lowell, however, was unable to interest Fields in publishing it and was forced to write: "I did what I could with F[ields]. about the book, but to no end. I expected as much. But see if I don't say a good word for it when it is published. There I have my own way."[3] The following year, as advance copies came from the press, there was no doubt in Howells' mind that Lowell would review the book, for he wrote his publisher, M. M. Hurd, in August, 1866: "I shall send it to Mr. Lowell, who says he will notice it in the next N. American Review, and to Mr. Norton, who, I think, will review it in the Nation, though of course I cannot state my expectation to him."[4] Howells was correct in believing that Norton would review his book; the marked file in the Nation office supplies this corroborative evidence.

Proof that Lowell wrote the essay on Venetian Life in the North American Review rests on internal evidence supported by the improbability of Norton's authorship of both notices. Lowell was the logical person to undertake this task because of his close personal friendship with Howells. He had known Howells since 1860, had published his first contributions to the Atlantic, had accepted his initial offering to the North American Review. This review was obviously written by a man who knew Howells, for it discusses at length his Midwestern background and early literary career. It also dwells at length on an idea which long had fascinated Lowell, the idea of "the unexhausted West," and to this end it glowingly pictures Howells as the self-taught Westerner storming the citadels of Eastern culture. The entire essay, moreover, lavishes praise in the manner Lowell customarily adopted when writing about his friends.

In addition to a dissimilarity of tone and content between the two reviews, there is one factual discrepancy which virtually eliminates the possibility of single authorship. This occurs in the matter of referring to Howells' forty-five month foreign residence. The North American Review article speaks of his four years abroad, while the Nation cites his three-year sojourn. Since the former figure is so nearly correct, it seems inescapable that Lowell, who was Howells' best friend in Cambridge, wrote the former review. Howells did not make Norton's acquaintance until after he returned from Italy and assumed his editorial duties on the Atlantic.

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