Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them

First of all it is a pleasure to peruse Emily Dickinson’s words I have spent hours a day savoring the works in this collection, including the editor’s notes.This edition makes it easy for the reader to dive into the works and understand more about the poet herself, the subjects she chose, and the familial and historical environments in which she wrote The poems are presented in the order in which Dickinson preserved them in homemade booklets and with plenty of room in the margins, which allows the reader to focus on them one at a time. The inclusion of Dickinson’s own alternate texts next to the relevant lines gives insight into the shades of meaning that she was weighing in her word choices. The footnotes point out information in the poet’s letters and describethe texts she alludes to, and so give the reader a fuller understanding of how the poems can be read. If this is the edition for our times, then it speaks well of our times.

This should now be the definitive book of Emily Dickinson's poetry. It is important to know the sequence in which she wrote her poetry. (And helps even more if you have read "The Life of Emily Dickinson" by Richard B. Sewell, a wonderful biography of her life.) There are so many books of poetry out there supposed to be her poetry, but instead are poems doctored by well-meaning family and friends. I have yet to read the entire book, as it is long, but I intend to compare it to the prior authoritative version of her poetry by R. W. Franklin. I had thought from the advertisement of the book that it would have more photographs of her actual handwritten poetry fragments. However, there weren't very many of such illustrations. I might add that I also have the book, "Emily Dickinson: The Gorgeous Nothings," by Marta Werner and Jen Bervin which includes multiple photographs of her handwritten poems or scraps of them. However, this book has its own problems as the poems from which they are drawn is listed in the end of the book as a Directory of the Envelope Writings rather than with the photographs of her writing in the main part of the book. The scraps photographed themselves do not necessarily help identify the actual poems by themselves.

This is it! If you want only one book presenting all of Emily Dickinson's poems, this is the book for you. I acquired the Johnson one-volume edition ( The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson ) on March 3, 1989, and that was my only Dickinson until I got Shurr's "New Poems" ( New Poems of Emily Dickinson ) on July 12, 1994. Eventually, I acquired the Franklin one-volume edition ( The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition (Belknap) ) on December 13, 2010. Finally, I got this Miller edition on July 21, 2016. The Johnson and Miller editions are the only complete editions that I've read straight through. I spent nine weeks this summer (2016) reading the Miller edition, and I enjoyed every page. The chief difference between Franklin's and Johnson's is the order of the poems: Franklin concluded that Johnson had dated many of the poems wrongly; since each edition presents the poems in roughly chronological order according to the editor's best judgement, the order of poems in Franklin's book differs markedly from that of Johnson's. Miller's differs even more dramatically in the order of the poems: Miller generally accepts Franklin's dating of the poems, but presents them in five sections based on how Emily "preserved them". The first section presents the poems that Emily herself had assembled into little booklets called fascicles; the second section presents poems that Emily herself had saved on "unbound sheets" joined together with a brass fastener (though we don't know whether Emily herself did the fastening); the third section presents "loose poems" that Emily had kept in her possession; the fourth section presents "poems transcribed by others" for which no manuscript in Emily's hand has been found; finally, the fifth and last section presents "poems not retained" by the poet herself but given to others. The first three sections are by far the longest, and a majority of the poems appear in the first two sections. One wouldn't go far wrong getting any of the three complete editions -- Johnson, Franklin, or Miller. I think Miller's is best, though, in three respects. First, simply because most of the poems are presented by Miller in fairly small groups (sheets, leaves) whereas the only division of poems in Johnson's and Franklin's books are by year, which makes for a run-on effect after reading for a while. Second, Miller also presents variant readings -- alternative lines and words written by the poet herself on the manuscript pages. (Thus, we get the most significant aspects of a "variorum" edition in a reader's edition.) Third, Miller footnotes to whom (if anyone) the poet shared each poem and provides some helpful annotation about possible sources, references, and allusions, in endnotes. Miller's index of first lines provides the Johnson and Franklin numbers for cross-referencing those older complete editions; alas, though, she provides no numbering system for the poems in her own edition, a deliberate choice that I think was imprudent. (I myself have resorted to referring to the poems in Miller's edition by page and poem number. For instance, one of my favorites, "The Life we have is very great", is Johnson # 1162, Franklin # 1178, and Miller "number" 707.3.) A magnificent work of scholarship, and a very enjoyable read. This is it! P.S. This is only the fourth review of this book here: I don't provide many reviews, and this is the first time I've been one of the earliest reviewers.

Buy this book. It’s the best complete edition of Emily Dickinsons poems. The dating of the poems, preserved in five sections based on how Emily wishes them to be read. The first section presents the poems that Emily herself had assembled into little booklets called fascicles; the second section presents poems that Emily herself had saved on "unbound sheets" joined together with a brass fastener; the third section presents "loose poems" that Emily had kept in herself; the fourth section presents "poems transcribed by others" for which no manuscript in Emily's hand has been found; finally, the fifth and last section presents "poems not retained" by the poet herself but given to others. just a splendid resource for any lover of Dickinson poetry.

I read reviews about this book and it sounded perfect for me. As a writer, I appreciate studying the processes of other writers, and this book demonstrates exactly that. I must admit, I was attracted to the black cover with the flowers in hand, but was aware that there was another less vibrant cover that some people received. I finally made up my mind to go for it anyway, because it’s the contents, right? But still, I was beyond happy when it arrived with the black cover. It just feels so “Emily” to me. I’ve glanced through the opening and I’m already entranced. If you are looking for a premiere collection, rest assured this is it, no matter the cover

Really wonderful collection, I found the organization interesting and illuminating. Production value is excellent, lots of room on the pages to write notes as well.

Der Inhalt ist schön gestaltet und das Buch sieht auch sehr schön aus. Leider war der Einband bei Lieferung bereits zerkratzt und auch die Seiten haben von außen rote Flecken. Da das Buch als Geschenk gedacht war bin ich wirklich enttäuscht!! So sollte ein neues Buch nicht aussehen

because it's the total collection of Emily Dickinson's poetry

Overall comments: This book is a treasure trove of Emily Dickinson's poetry. I love that Miller kept to the original writings. She also includes side notes of alternative words that Emily contemplated using. This further expands our understanding and breathes more life into the literature. I do not like when editors change and alter a writer's original script. Miller has certainly aimed to recapture the raw, authentic text. Jacket: Some other reviews state they did not receive the black jacket with artwork as pictured. For me, this was not the case. I am delighted to have received the exact jacket as advertised. I love the design. Dimensions: The book is quite large. I was originally going to take this with me on my morning commute, but it is not practical for transit reading. This is an at-home read that demands the time and attention it rightly deserves.

The book came in good condition, the pages are good. The condition seems very nice, and it's a pretty thick book. It does feel a bit pricier but again, it does contain not only her poems but alooooot of annotations, meaning derivations and it's very interesting to have.

Une édition magnifique des poésies complètes d'Emily Dickinson. Un rare plaisir de parcourir un livre si magnifique. Hélas mon exemplaire est arrivé endommagé, j'ai donc demandé un remplacement (sans frais !) Les pages sont épaisses, la couverture rigide, et les vers, toujours aussi sublimes. A lire absolument.