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.
