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The important task of identifying the largely anonymous contributors to the Dial was energetically undertaken by George Willis Cooke, in the late nineteenth century. His preliminary determination of the names was published in 1885,[1] and his final statement was properly included in the second of the two supplementary volumes that accompanied the set of the Dial reprinted by the Rowfant Club in 1901-02.[2] I know of no updating of Cooke's list, nor is there any need for a full one since he accurately says, "In several lists that have been used there is an amount of divergence not very large, and it is much lessened by a careful investigation" (II.193). Cooke had the advantage of being able to check various dubious or "open" items by applying directly to contributors to the Dial or to their heirs during the nineteenth century. The marked copies that he consulted
George W. Cooke, however, along with other students of Emerson, seemed unaware of a very detailed listing of contributors' names which Emerson himself inserted into a set of the Dial magazine acquired by the British Museum. There is little question about the circumstances under which Emerson filled in the names, usually in the Table of Contents of each volume, but occasionally in the text at the foot of the article or poem. Two manuscript headnotes in faded ink indicate the source of the annotations originally. The Table of Contents of the first volume reads: "When Mr Emerson was in England in 1847-8, He, at my request, wrote the names of the authors against their various contribution to the Dial in the following List of Contents. A. I." On the Contents page of the fourth volume we find, written in the same autograph: "The names of the authors of the various papers were written by Mr Emerson at A Ireland's residence in Manchester in the winter of 1847 A I." Emerson's inscription is further confirmed by a statement in a book by "A. I.," that is, by Alexander Ireland. "An originally subscribed-for copy is in the possession of the writer of this memoir, which is rendered unique and very precious by having the authorship of each article indicated in Emerson's own handwriting."[4] Since Ireland died in 1894 it was unlikely that Cooke had knowledge of the British Museum's acquisition of the set in time for his publication of 1902.
Students of Emerson are in no need of the details of Emerson's relations with this newspaper man. Originally from Edinburgh, Ireland had forged a career and name for himself in Manchester, acquired a magnificent library, and published a variety of literary papers. While still in Edinburgh he had been greatly impressed by Emerson's sermon in the Young Street Unitarian Chapel in 1833 and subsequently became, in Rusk's term, the "chief instigator of the lecture tour of 1847-8," after hearing about Emerson's Lyceum success from Margaret Fuller.[5] He saw Emerson again on
It is true that the cognoscenti in or near Concord, with the increasing importance of Transcendentalism in American literary thought, could puzzle out the authorship of some of the articles from the occasional letter or letters designating the names of the contributors, even when the letter was only a formal symbol, like the "Z" for Caroline Sturgis, or the "U" for W. H. Channing (II.45) and the "A" for Margaret Fuller (II.437) who is usually designated as "F." To a Transcendentalist reader "H. D. T." could mean only Thoreau, and "P." Parker, and "C." Cranch, but why should "M. L. O." betoken James Russell Lowell (I.366)? Again, it would be possible for some members of the group to recognize poems printed in the Dial as bearing the earmarks of William Ellery Channing, confirmed by their inclusion in the 1843 and 1847 volumes of his poetry, but Emerson did not expect this degree of awareness in England. Hence, he filled out several entries that were obvious to Americans and several that he left in "letter" form in the Harvard set. In a few instances he identified items in the text rather than in the Table of Contents, as I occasionally indicate in my lists or in the discussion below.
My system of recording my collations is based on the following facts. Cooke's list of contributors is given at the end of his second supplementary volume (pp. 196-211), where they may be consulted by any student of Emerson. He did not specify for which items he was specifically using the authority of the Emerson (or Houghton) set, and since that is probably the most complete of all the authoritative lists, I wish to enable the reader to detect any discrepancies or omissions in any of the three, including the British Museum set. When Cooke's fill-in substantially matches both the Houghton copy and the British Museum copy, I omit that title. (I ignore differences in forms, such as the use of a manuscript "Z" by Emerson in the Houghton copy for Caroline Sturgis, called by Cooke "Caroline Tappan.")[7] The significant discrepancies between the British Museum and the Cooke listings are starred for separate discussion below my listing.
| Page | Article or Poem | Cooke's list | Harvard set | British Museum set |
| Vol. I | ||||
| 99 | Channing's Translation of Jouffroy (W.) | W. D. Wilson | W D Wilson | Wilson faintly written, as though erased |
| 134 | A Dialogue | Margaret Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 135 | Richter----Morning Breeze | Margaret Fuller | Margaret Fuller | 0 |
| 136 | Dante----Sketches (S.) | Sarah Clarke | Sarah Clarke | 0 |
| 158 | Silence | Emerson | Emerson | 0 |
| *161 | A Sign from the West (C.) | C. P. Cranch | C P Cranch | J F Clarke |
| 172 | Angelica Sleeps | Margaret Fuller (?) | 0 | 0 |
| 187 | The Poor Rich Man | Ellen Hooper | Ellen Hooper | 0 |
| 187 | Why askest thou? | W. E. Channing | W E Channing | 0 |
| 188 | Musings of a Recluse | C. P. Cranch | 0 | 0 |
| *193 | The Day Breaks (Z.) | Caroline Tappan | Ellen Hooper | C S |
| 216 | From Goethe | Caroline Tappan | 0 | 0 |
| 217 | Paean (Z.) | Caroline Tappan | 0 | C S (the same) |
| 217 | Lyric (Z.) | Caroline Tappan | 0 | C S |
| 219 | Waves | Caroline Tappan | C S | 0 |
| 219 | On the surface | Caroline Tappan | C S | 0 |
| 245 | Life and Death | Caroline Tappan | Z | 0 |
| 246 | Record of the Months | George Ripley | 0 | 0 |
| 264 | Select List of Recent Publications | Various names | 0 | 0 |
| 293 | Klopstock and Meta | Margaret Fuller | 0 | Marg. Fuller |
| 298 | The True in Dreams (C.) | C. P. Cranch | 0 | C P Cranch |
| 305 | Sunset | Caroline Tappan | 0 | 0 |
| 362 | Woman (W. N.) | Sophia Ripley | 0 | "I believe Sophia Ripley," in text |
| 400 | To the Ideal | Ellen Hooper | Ellen Hooper | 0 |
| 401 | Record of the Months | Emerson and Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 461 | Listen to the Wind | Caroline Tappan | 0 | 0 |
| 461 | The Wind Again | Caroline Tappan | 0 | 0 |
| 468 | Poems on Art | J. F. Clarke | 0 | 0 |
| 519 | The Out-Bid | Ellen Hooper | Ellen Hooper | 0 |
| 539 | Music of the Winter (T.) | J. F. Tuckerman | Tuckerman | 0 |
| 544 | Farewell | Ellen Hooper | 0 | 0 |
| Vol. II | ||||
| 42 | Two Hymns | Eliza T. Clapp | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Night and Day (U.) | W. H. Channing | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Song | W. E. Channing (?) | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Need of a Diver | W. H. Channing | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Protean Wishes | Theodore Parker | Theodore Parker | 0 |
| 78 | Painting and Sculpture | Sophia Ripley | [FBS] (Sanborn?) | 0 |
| 81 | Sic Vita (H. D. T.) | Thoreau | 0 | H D Thoreau |
| 82 | Bettina | Caroline Tappan | C S | 0 |
| 83 | Prophecy-Transcendentalism-Progress | J. A. Saxton | At foot of p. 83, "Rufus Saxton, FBS says." | 0 |
| 121 | Sonnet to -- | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E C |
| 129 | Sonnet (Hugh Peters) | J. R. Lowell | 0 | 0 |
| 130 | Review of Very's Essays | Emerson | 0 | R W E |
| 131 | On Heroes, etc. | Margaret Fuller | 0 | S M F |
| 133 | Miscellaneous | Margaret Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 136 | Lines | Sara A. Chase | 0 | 0 |
| 136 | To Contributors | Margaret Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 214 | A Glimpse, etc. | Elizabeth P. Peabody | 0 | E P Peabody |
| 228 | Poems on Life (W.) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 230 | Windmill | Caroline Tappan | 0 | 0 |
| 271 | Inworld (C.) | C. P. Cranch | 0 | C P Cranch |
| 286 | Yuca Filamentosa | Margaret Fuller | 0 | S M Fuller |
| 288 | Inworld | C. P. Cranch | 0 | C P Cranch |
| 290 | Outworld (C.) | C. P. Cranch | 0 | C P Cranch |
| *359 | De Profundis Clamavi | 0 | 0 | B F at foot of p. 359 |
| 380 | Epilogue | Margaret Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 382 | Transcendentalism | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 385 | Notices | Various names | 0 | 0 |
| 408 | The Ideal Man | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 439 | Marie Van Oosterwich | Margaret Fuller | 0 | 0 |
| 483 | Silence and Speech (C.) | C. P. Cranch | 0 | C P Cranch |
| 485 | Thoughts on Theology (P.) | Theodore Parker | 0 | Theodore Parker |
| 528 | Herzliebste | Charles A. Dana | 0 | 0 |
| 529 | Record of the Months | Theodore Parker | 0 | 0 |
| Vol. III | ||||
| 40 | Poems (six) | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E C in text |
| 44 | Autumn Leaves | Eliza T. Clapp | 0 | Eliza T. Clapp in text |
| *76 | Vespers (Sa.) | 0 | Geo. W. Curtis | Geo. Curtis in text |
| *81 | To Shakespeare | W. E. Channing | W E C | C S in text |
| 82 | Veershnoo Sarma | Emerson | R W E | 0 |
| *85 | I asked the angels | 0 | 0 | C S in text |
| 126 | Outward Bound | Caroline Tappan | 0 | C S in text |
| 127 | Record of the Months | Emerson (9; ?, 3), Fuller (1) | Emerson (4; ?, 4) | 0 |
| *265 | Lines (X.) | Ellen Cooper (?) | 0 | Geo. Curtis in text |
| 273 | Record of the Months | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 313 | A Song of Spring | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E C |
| 331 | Laws of Menu | H. D. Thoreau | 0 | 0 |
| 387 | Literary Intelligence | Various names | C S Wheeler on p. 388 | 0 |
| 493 | Ethnical Scriptures | H. D. Thoreau | 0 | 0 |
| 506 | To x x x, To ----- | W. E. Channing (?) | W E C (for both) | 0 |
| 509 | The Friends | W. E. Channing | 0 | 0 |
| 529 | Friendship (Chaucer) | Emerson (?) | 0 | 0 |
| Vol. IV | ||||
| 59 | Ethnical Scriptures | Emerson (?) | 0 | 0 |
| 134 | Record of the Months | Emerson (5; ?, 1), Alcott (1) | 0 | 0 |
| 186 | Autumn | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E Channing |
| 205 | Ethnical Scriptures | H. D. Thoreau | 0 | 0 |
| 226 | The Three Dimensions | Emerson (?) | 0 | R W E |
| 244 | The Mother's Grief | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E Channing |
| 247 | The Comic | Emerson | 0 | R W Emerson |
| 270 | New Books | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 273 | The Youth of the Poet | W. E. Channing | W E C | 0 |
| *306 | Lines | Caroline Tappan | E S Hooper | C S |
| 350 | Autumn Woods | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E Channing |
| 391 | The Preaching of Buddha | H. D. Thoreau | 0 | 0 |
| 402 | Ethnical Scriptures | H. D. Thoreau | 0 | 0 |
| 407 | Critical Notices | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 455 | The Twin Loves | Samuel G. Ward | 0 | S G Ward |
| 471 | The Death of Shelley (C.) | W. E. Channing | 0 | W E C |
| 521 | Saturday and Sunday | B. P. Hunt | 0 | B P Hunt |
| 529 | Ethnical Scriptures | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
| 537 | Millennial Church | Charles Lane | "W B G?" | C Lane |
| 540 | Human Nature (review) | Emerson | 0 | 0 |
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