Edith Wharton Review (Fall 2011) Table of Contents

http://www.edithwhartonsociety.org

Volume 27.2, Fall 2011

Faulstick, Dustin H. "'He that Loveth Silver Shall Not Be Satisfied with Silver'" Reconsidering the Connection between The House of Mirth and Ecclesiastes."Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 1-12.

Patten, Ann L. "'The Wanamaker Touch in Fiction' and Edith Wharton's Guide to Novel-writing in Hudson River Bracketed and The Gods Arrive." Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 12-22.

Raphael, Lev. "Writing Wharton's Wrong." Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 22-2.


Shaffer-Koros, Carol. "Wharton in New York." Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 23-24.

Goldman-Price, Irene. "Edith Wharton Collection Research Report." Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 24-25.

Olin-Ammentorp, Julie. Rev. of Edith Wharton and the Politics of Race by Jennie A. Kassanoff. Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 25-26.

Campbell, Donna. Rev. of The Unpublished Writings of Edith Wharton, ed. Laura Rattray. Edith Wharton Review 27.2 (Fall 2011): 26-27.

New queries at the Edith Wharton Society site

Please send any replies to whartonqueries@gmail.com for posting at the site.
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Edith Wharton's dogs

I am conducting research for an article to be published in 2011, commemorating the 125th anniversary of American Kennel Club recognition of the English Toy Spaniel (admitted 1886). I wish to include photographs of noted Americans with this breed in my article.

About 2 to 3 years ago, I saw a photo (possibly a post card or carte de visite) for auction on Ebay claiming to show Edith Wharton with her pet English Toy Spaniel [a.k.a. King Charles Spaniel; not to be confused with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel]. Unfortunately, I did not win this auction and I cannot find this particular photo in any on-line archives. I have found photos of Edith Wharton with her Chihuahua dogs and a Yorkshire Terrier.

Is there a copy of this photo in the collection of the Edith Wharton Library/Archives? Can anyone confirm that she did indeed at some time own this breed as a pet? The photo on Ebay definitely depicted a lady of the era, certainly resembling Edith Wharton, with an English Toy Spaniel. I believe the dog was seated on her lap. This photo may have been taken after the author relocated to France. The dog is a small, flat-faced spaniel which could be easily mistaken for a Pekingese.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Richard LeBeau
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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"The Line of Least Resistance"

My name is quoted below and you can of course quote it, as well as my e-mail address. I am and have been all my life a passionate Whartonian, although I am better know throughout the world (this a true fact not a self-serving fancy!) as a biographer of Gustav Mahler (3 volumes of my biography have been published by Oxford University Press).

My mother was one of the two daughters of the hero (or rather anti-hero as we say in French) of the Wharton story The Line of Least Resistance but the story ended very differently in real life. My mother knew Wharton well and they must have met quite frequently in France, where Wharton spent most of her life, as far as I know. She was the main subject of my last conversation with my mother before my mother was killed in a car-accident in 1983.

I found a letter from James to Wharton which concerns "The Line". If further information concerning this story has survived, I would of course be very interested. I already know much of the truth behind the story, particularly why Wharton never followed James's advice of transforming "The Line..." into a novel, but I suppose all Whartonians know about this!

This is all for today but I would be very obliged to receive answers to this message

Henry-Louis de La Grange

Prof. H.L. de La Grange

Please reply to hlg@bluewin.ch

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Frontispiece for House of Mirth

I would like to know which image was used for the frontispiece for 'The House of Mirth,' the first 1905 edition. There are two major photographs presented as taken during this time (one with Wharton sitting at her desk, the other she is standing with a book).
Thank you

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"The Journey" I am leading a Book Club discussion on Edith Wharton's "The Journey". Could you tell me what year this short story was written? I understand it is part of The Greater Inclination, with a publication in 1916????

Thank you for your help - it is fine to publish this information.

Age of Innocence Reviews in British Periodicals

Was Age of Innocence reviewed in Cornhill Magazine, or any other contemporary British literary journal of comparable status?

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Bouguereau Venus

I am doing a research on art collectors Wharton knew and drew inspiration from for her characters.

In her autobiography she mentions an episode in which William Astor’s acquisition of a Bouguereau Venus was occasionally commented upon by friends and relatives; I have been looking in several publications and archives, but I have not been able to identify this painting; I’m also not sure if the Astor she might have been referring to was William Backhouse Astor or another member of the family.

I would really appreciate any information on the subject.

Sincerely

Elisabetta Mezzani

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Judith Fetterley on Wharton

I am looking for the article "The Temptation to be a Beautiful Object" by Judith Fetterley. I cannot find a book in print that includes this article, and I wondered if you could help. Thank you!

Katie Wickliff

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Edith Wharton's Will

What was the content of her will? Did her niece receive her possessions? Did she create the potion of literary executor?
Thank you
M Stalnaker

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"My Little Dog"

I am trying to find the poem “my little old dog:/a heartbeat at my feet. I am unable to retrieve it from the electronic text center. I am probably doing something wrong. Could you please help me or forward me a copy?

Thank you.

Susan Cook

walking.demi@yahoo.com

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"The Pelican"

Most critics believe that the lecture is satirized, but why does Wharton also give an account of the smug narrator who prides on his knowledge and assumes himself to be a savior? The pelican implies self-sacrifice, and is this also meant for satire? Also, how do we think of the lecturer's family traditon of learning? Does she try to find an excuse to maintain her literary identity? (Jane from Capital Normal University, Beijing)


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Spohr Symphony in Age of Innocence

In “The Age of Innocence” Book 2, XIX , 4 pages into this section the following passage occurs: “A long time had apparently passed since his heart had stopped beating, for the white and rosy procession was in fact half way up the nave, the Bishop, the Rector and two white-winged assistants were hovering about the flower-banked altar, and the first chords of the Spohr symphony were strewing their flower-like notes before the bride.”

I am a member of the Spohr Society of Great Britain and as such am interested in all references to the composer in literature. My question is, which Spohr symphony is referred to? Spohr’s work is rarely played these days, especially not at weddings, but it must have been sufficiently standard a part of American wedding services at the period the novel was set in for readers to know, without having it specified, which work it was. Can any member throw light on this?

Many thanks

Mike Jarman

mike.jarman@btinternet .com

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Edith Wharton Design Award

I am doing research on Edith Wharton and came across a reference to John Loring of Tiffany fame who was given the Design and Art Society's Edith Wharton Award of Excellence in 1988. I would like to know there if there is any specific information about this particular award — how it came to be — and perhaps other recipients.

Thank you for your kind attention —

Best,
Miriam Berman
Author, Madison Square — The Park and Its Celebrated Landmarks

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Detailed bibliography of publication dates for Wharton's serial novels

For a researcher at our university, we’re seeking a detailed bibliography for Wharton’s serialized novels’ publication schedule. For example, for the “House of Mirth,” it would give each issue (date, page numbers) of Scribner’s Magazine in which that novel was serialized.

We’ve found many more general lists that tell the months and years a novel was serialized, but are hoping that someone might have compiled this more complete and specific data.

Thank you!

Mary Molineux, msmoli@wm.edu


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Wharton poem on dogs

I am trying to find the poem “my little old dog:/a heartbeat at my feet. I am unable to retrieve it from the electronic text center. I am probably doing something wrong. Could you please help me or forward me a copy?

Thank you.

Susan Cook, walking.demi@yahoo.com

Wharton site available; Wharton in Florence 2012 site

The Edith Wharton site is now available at its usual spot: http://www.edithwhartonsociety.org. Also, the conference site for Edith Wharton in Florence 2012 is available here: http://wharton2012.wordpress.com.

Edith Wharton Society site down temporarily

Because of an outage at the main WSU web site, the Edith Wharton Society web site is down temporarily. The IT people say that it will be restored by the end of the week (5/27). Sorry for the inconvenience.

Donna Campbell

Wharton Sessions at American Literature Association 2011

Thursday, May 26, 4:30-5:50 pm

Session 6-B: Edith Wharton and the Aesthetic

Organized by the Edith Wharton Society

Chair: Gary Totten, North Dakota State University


1. “‘Our Literary Aristocrat‘: Edith Wharton, Social Class, and The Writing of Fiction,”‖ Julie Olin-Ammentorp, Le Moyne College

2. “Wharton, Atherton, and the Aesthetics of Age,”‖ Melanie Dawson, College of William and Mary

3. “Wharton‘s Guide to Novel-writing: Hudson River Bracketed and The Gods Arrive,”‖ Ann L. Patten, Trinity College Dublin

4. “Edith Wharton and the Problem of Progress,”‖ Rafael Walker, University of Pennsylvania





Friday, May 27, 9:40-11:00 am

Session 8-B: Realism, Naturalism, and the Powers of Horror in Edith Wharton's Writing

Organized by the Edith Wharton Society

Chair: Meredith Goldsmith, Ursinus College



1. "Mountain Iconography: Charity's Uphill Descent in Edith Wharton's Summer," Bill Hardwig, University of Tennessee

2. "Queering the Uncanny: The Psychic Vampire in Viereck's The House of the Vampire and Wharton's "The Eyes," Sharon Kehl Califano, Hesser College

3. “The ‘Habit(u)s and Tastes’ of Edith Wharton's Gothic: Class, Ghosts, and Architecture in "Afterward" and "The Lady's Maid's Bell," Gillian Nelson Bauer, Loyola University Chicago

Friday, May 27, 11:10 am-12:30 pm

Session 9-N: Business Meeting: Wharton Society

Edith Wharton Conference 2012

Edith Wharton in Florence:

A Sesquicentennial Conference Sponsored by

the Edith Wharton Society

6-8 June 2012



Please join us for the international conference of the Edith Wharton Society in Florence, Italy, celebrating the sesquicentennial of Wharton's birth. “Edith Wharton in Florence” will be the third Wharton Society conference held in Europe and the first in Italy. The conference directors seek papers focusing on all aspects of Wharton's work, and we especially welcome submissions dealing with the international contexts of her writing. Papers might offer readings of any of Wharton's texts, including the short fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and travel writing, in addition to the novels; Wharton's work in relation to any of its nineteenth- and twentieth-century contexts; Wharton in a transatlantic literary context; Wharton and her contemporaries, both male and female, canonical and non-canonical, European and American; Wharton in Italy, Morocco, and elsewhere in Europe; Wharton and the other arts, including painting, photography, theatre, and film (adaptations of her work during her lifetime and those that have appeared more recently); Wharton and cosmopolitanism, globalization, and the various forces of modernity; Wharton and art history. All theoretical approaches welcome, including feminist, psychoanalytic, historicist, marxist, queer, and ecocritical, among others.


Through the generosity of Marist College, the conference will be held at Marist's Lorenzo di Medici campus, in the heart of Florence. In addition to panels, there will be a keynote speaker and opportunities for tours of the area.



Please submit 250-500-word abstracts and brief CV to EdithWhartoninFlorence2012@gmail.com

by 15 July 2011.

All conference participants must be members of the Edith Wharton Society

at the time of registration.

For more information about the conference, contact Conference Directors

Meredith Goldsmith (Ursinus College; mgoldsmith@ursinus.edu) and

Emily Orlando (Fairfield University; eorlando@fairfield.edu).

New issues of The Edith Wharton Review

The Fall and Spring 2009 issues of The Edith Wharton Review have been mailed to members. The EWR is a peer-reviewed journal indexed by the MLA, and it will soon be available through EBSCOhost.

To submit an essay to the EWR or for the Edith Wharton Essay Prize, go to http://www.edithwhartonsociety.org/ewr.htm.

Recent Tables of Contents

Fall 2009

Asya, Ferda. "Report on the 2008-2009 Edith Wharton Collection Award of the Edith Wharton Society." Edith Wharton Review 25.2 (Fall 2009): 10.

Hoeller, Hildegard. Rev. of Edith Wharton and the Conversations of Literary Modernism by Jennifer Haytock . Edith Wharton Review 25.2 (Fall 2009): 11-12.

Nettels, Elsa. Rev. of Edith Wharton Through a Darwinian Lens: Evolutionary Biological Issues in Her Fiction by Judith P. Saunders. Edith Wharton Review 25.2 (Fall 2009): 12-13.

Scott, Jacquelyn. "The 'lift of a broken wing': Darwinian Descent and Selection in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth and Summer." Edith Wharton Review 25.2 (Fall 2009): 1-9

Singley, Carol. Rev. of The Correspondence of Edith Wharton and Macmillan, 1901-1930, ed. Shafquat Towheed. Edith Wharton Review 25.2 (Fall 2009): 14-15.

Spring 2009

Patten, Ann L. "The Spectres of Capitalism and Democracy in Edith Wharton's Early Ghost Stories." Edith Wharton Review 25.1 (Spring 2009): 1-8.

Totten, Gary. Rev. of Edith Wharton and the Visual Arts by Emily Orlando. Edith Wharton Review 25.1 (Spring 2009): 9-14.

Wahl, Jenny. "Edith Wharton as Economist: An Economic Interpretation of The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence." Edith Wharton Review 25.1 (Spring 2009): 15.

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