New Directions to Publish First-Ever Book of Emily Dickinson Manuscript Facsimiles

Gorgeous Nothings! Hardly. Good news spins forth from the New Directions blog--the press is publishing the first-ever, full-color, large-scale edition of Emily Dickinson's "complete envelope writings in facsimile from her visually stunning manuscripts." With contributions from Jen Bervin (you've hopefully spied her beautiful, intricate "Dickinson Fascicles"?), Susan Howe, and Marta Werner! More:

The Gorgeous Nothings — the first full-color facsimile edition of Emily Dickinson’s manuscripts ever to appear — is a deluxe edition of her late writings, presenting this crucially important, experimental late work exactly as she wrote it on scraps of envelopes. A never-before-possible glimpse into the process of one of our most important poets.

The book presents all the envelope writings — 52 — reproduced life-size in full color both front and back, with an accompanying transcription to aid in the reading, allowing us to enjoy this little-known but important body of Dickinson’s writing. Envisioned by the artist Jen Bervin and made possible by the extensive research of the Dickinson scholar Marta L. Werner, this book offers a new understanding and appreciation of the genius of Emily Dickinson.

Publication date is October 29. We're so looking forward. And we're also looking forward to hosting an exhibition in our gallery with works by contributing artist from the book. The exhibition will run from October 15th through November 30th. We'll be posting on our Gorgeous Nothings exhibition as October approaches.