Sidney Lanier
by Edwin Mims [American (Southern U.S.) Scholar; 1872-1959.]
[Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are capitalized.
Some obvious errors have been corrected (see notes).]
Sidney Lanier
by Edwin Mims
Preface
The present volume is a biography of Lanier rather than a critical studyof his work. So far as possible, I have told the story in his own words,or in the words of those who knew him most intimately. If I have erredin placing undue emphasis on the early part of his career, it was intentional,for that is the part of his life about which least is known.I have intentionally emphasized his relation to the South, in order to avoida misconception that he was a detached figure. The bibliographies preparedby Mr. Wills for the "Southern History Association" and by Mr. Callawayfor his "Select Poems of Lanier" make one unnecessary for this volume.
Of previously published material, I have been greatly indebtedto the Memorial by Mr. William Hayes Ward, the fuller sketchby the late Professor W. M. Baskervill, and the volume of letters publishedby Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons. For new material, I am indebted,first of all, to Mrs. Sidney Lanier, who has put me in possession,not of the most intimate correspondence of the poet,but of many letters written by him to his father and friends,as well as unpublished fragments and essays. She has done all in her powerto make this volume accurate and trustworthy. Her sons,Mr. Charles Day Lanier and Mr. Henry W. Lanier, have put me underspecial obligations, the latter especially, by reading the proofof a large part of the volume. Mr. Clifford Lanier, the poet's brother,put at my disposal a valuable series of letters, and otherwise aided me.I am indebted to Dr. Daniel Coit Gilman, Mrs. Edwin C. Cushman,Judge Logan E. Bleckley, Mr. Dudley Buck, Mr. Charles Scribner,Mrs. Isabel L. Dobbin, Mr. George Cary Eggleston, Miss Effie Johnston,Mr. Sidney Lanier Gibson, and Miss Sophie Kirk, for placing in my handsunpublished letters of Lanier. The following have written reminiscenceswhich have proved especially helpful: Dr. James Woodrow,Professor Gildersleeve, Chancellor Walter B. Hill, Professor Waldo S. Pratt,Mrs. Arthur W. Machen, Mrs. Sophie Bledsoe Herrick,Mr. F. H. Gottlieb, and Mr. Charles Heber Clarke. I desire to thankMessrs. Charles Scribner's Sons and Mrs. Lanier for permissionto quote from the letters and collected writings of Lanier;Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co. for permission to quote from Lanier's"Shakspere and his Forerunners", and the editor of "Lippincott's Magazine",for the quotations from the letters to Mr. Milton H. Northrup.For various reasons I am under obligations to Miss Susan Hayes Ward,Mrs. W. M. Baskervill, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, Mr. George S. Wills,Mr. J. P. Breedlove of the Trinity College Library, Mr. T. J. Kiernanof the Harvard College Library, Mr. Philip R. Uhler of the Peabody Institute,Mr. J. H. Southgate, Mr. F. A. Ogburn, Mr. Milton H. Northrup,Mr. J. A. Bivins, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, and to my colleagues,Dr. W. P. Few and Dr. W. H. Glasson.
Trinity College, Durham, N.C.,
August 12, 1905.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter I. Ancestry and Boyhood
Chapter II. College Days
Chapter III. A Confederate Soldier
Chapter IV. Seeking a Vocation
Chapter V. Lawyer and Traveler
Chapter VI. A Musician in Baltimore
Chapter VII.