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Saturday, April 15, 2006

Another Image of Emily?





The photo above was purchased by Philip Gurga and described as:

This 3 7/8" by 5 1/2" albumen photograph, which originally was mounted on photographer's board, is identified in pencil on the verso in nineteenth-century hand, "Emily Dickinson/Died/r[?]ec[ieved?]/1886 [the year she died]." Some people see the word "Dec" instead of "rec" and think it may mean "December." This may be, but if so, it might indicate the month in which the image was received, for she died in May.

Recent assessment of the image suggests that it may be a cabinet-card-sized paper copy of a daguerreotype taken in the mid-1850s, perhaps made from the original after Dickinson's death.


Reverse of Photograph


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