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Digitized by the Internet Archive 2013 in http://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnsclmalinc Abraham Lincoln's Contemporaries May Louisa Alcott Excerpts from newspapers and other sources From the files of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection 7/.Z.£>£><?, D*5.o37t>3 "« Uncoveredin a HarvardLibrary: Alcott's UnpublishedFirstNovel ByLAWRENCEVANGELDER ThemanuscriptofLouisaMayAl- ckontot'wsnvteorsychfoilrastrsnoavnedl,wrailtltebnutwhuenn- theauthorwas18,hasbeenfoundin the Houghton Library at Harvard University,whereitwasapparently miscataloguedagenerationago Discoveredby "•<• professors re- searching Alcott's letters and journals, the novel, titled "The Inherit- ance," waswrittenin1349aridtells thetumultuoustaleofEdith,apoor orphaned Italian girl adopted by a wealthyEnglishfamily. The manuscript was apparently never offered for publication and was never mentioned in Alcott's journals, said Lane Zachary of the ZacharyShusterAgencyinBoston,a literary partnership, which will be opfufbelriisnhgertsheawndorkfilsmimculotmapnaenoiuesslyftoor LouisaMayAlcott "biddingjnMonday.Ms.Zacharycat- egorized "The Inheritance" as a LoveChase,"anAlcottnovelreject- young-adultnovel. edinthe19thcenturyastoosensa- Za"chTahreyr,ewishnooirnec1o9r94donfegito,t"isaatieddMtsh.e tioInnalstoombeepwuabylsish—ed.the use of the seven-figure saleof "A Long Fatal name Amy and the close sisterly relationshipbetweenEdithandAmy, HAPPY BIRTHDAYJOSEPH HELLER FROM Ehatrttph;'/s/wwbwig.gaemsatzobno.okcsotmo/re——ADVATm.i B°oks! ContinuedonPageB8,Column3 / -?!/ \ Unpublished Alcott Novel Is Discovered at Harvard ContinuedFromPageAl hveerrywcolroksientgoatthesoamdueltthifincgtitohnaotfwhaesr fes"sIorfese,l"vMerr.yPkriantdtlysatiodw.ardthepro- MreaaydAelvceortytalentdteervewrriytetnetnrybyinLeovueirsya'" — time.Inotherwords,sheispattern- No one seemed to know exactly journal,andthereisnoreferenceto thheerilteaandcien"gpcrheafrigaucrteesrs"Litt"leThWeomIn-- oifngthheertsiemlef.onthepopularliterature hedowftrhoemmatnheuscmraiipntbboedcyamoefsAelpcaortatt'-s thiBsuotrhaensyatihdinhgealinkdePthriosfetshseorer.S"hea'- PmwJorh,e"oi"lSfctehasAMrswlytocaelorsretostdpf'o"usnAbw,mlamiesosrChsiaettrcdhoael2nfi0wanLomayiroetdaueRrrseusasstlenueaoradtvereerbcla.yh,t sbmaudueutc"nlhAttansladfssoiofci'tttniAhoconeotL,nootensnaluglieycnmhsFehanewtatriasstlGh'ooiLLtfniohtvihittelceertsChWthemoaooresimlreee-e's- whsratoeaorsvmkeOee.arrcroMchfehsaait.drhndegS"tAhTeHlerhocnreuo,st1tewI9,n5hp0hoaetbprhiseieaortigsadArnlawccspeeohh"rteyte,wmthsumhiasuelit-end lwsmyauh,tmewemnrheioartl.ha,eryewPcirrlooel-tfeuedprsinustororrstsoueoMfHyaoterthrhveesarormndAaltcttdoh^eitt-st-".". theUniversityofSouthCarolina,to en.'" seum in Concord, N.H., and others scribed Branson Alcott, Louisa-' describe his reaction when he and Professor Shealy noted that the werealreadyinthelibraryat Har- May's father, as a "pack rat" and-- DanielShealy,associateprofessorof onlypreviousreferenceto"TheIn- vard. said his papers might shed sonjeT English at the University of North heritance"wasasinglesentencein Ms. Zacharysaidshe understood light."ButthereisnothingbyLouisa" Carolina at Charlotte,came across Madeleine B. Stern's authoritative thatsometimeinthe 1960's,theAl- tohelpus." the150-pagemanuscriptof"TheIn- biography "Louisa May Alcott," a cott heirs deposited additional ma- Mr.Prattsaidthatliketheprofes^ heritance." 1950work.Ms.Sternsaidyesterday terialintheHoughtonLibrary. sors,he,too,hadbeensurprisedby haawtttaeenPaettrrha.sode"cmfhioeolfstoeshttdoehhrreirsaSa,?nhndaAednansldsdayawiiesddeaaicntsdhoha:,iiosd"af,nWiuhdsesavIillemootpoohyokkioreenudd-k tipbrnhriragiAopthdlpatgcehspeore,ettrtrtyMbboadoasiooctsefkkh.de,hbJcayaohmdnihaRdlnjndauulhsnseitPsdcsrbsroaetitmeiwptnnotHr1oob8eufra8psor8rtee,iCh.neaatrtmnesh-dd.e situpnnharteiIeitidnvlhreettanhchnltaoiateysmtdetmyeheitv1eae9htyrn8em.0tcme',sanfmttorheroetmoiatncorwrt1eoo9hts9eus0prr,rntopibhfrnueeogtsjwsettoocohrrtakistst ottlrhhveoeeeswuredrd"ritTeshrhcceeteolivaroeteInridnvyihoesfelocryf"iotvActaelhnroLecysoeenm,ag"aonnnduFwashttlchiuarecclihrpfaLtutorfiviov6lpee1-f"^ cMoytAets'rssseosnsi"snIagnihde:trhie"tFaisnricsgetn,io"fficaallnP,creiotfosefhsosAwolsr- g"sraBierdaatny-segsorteneartAld-cagoyrt,atn,adhfdaedtrihnfegart,th"hearMt,rwt.haePsrtamwtyot tPerroPfraeonsfyessosrcolSruehseMaytloeyrthshaoedncyiesrtacitudomsehtneacnoacunends- Cothha"eIsres.a"mliwgahytsbweo,"ndheeresadidhwoiwthmsaonmye- shewasaremarkablyaccomplished professors would also share in the underwhichAlcottwrotethenovel. amusement,"but I'vebeenassured writeratayoungage.Herewehave proceedsfrom"TheInheritance." "Ithinkitisfairtosaywehave thattherearenotlikelytobeany."-' ^= UNDERSTANDINGOOUURRPPAAS5TT Thursday,May2,1=996=THE=NE=W&S=ENTINEl7 i Scholars plan to publish Louisa May Alcott manuscript scrBiOmSwTriOtNten(AbPviLo-uiAsnaMuanvpuAbllcoitsth.ewdhernaasnhue- HMH^M»S".V^HH bisuhti*Hornrlaynsrrreicheinntplyit.fin- ssttrrSeepaatkk.""iibaalnysnnaoddtfnhwweEEEaadnnHissggtallh**mi,irrisosolamhhmtanaoxccnianaottssrititfplcclaehpm,wwaiiilnttttyhhhh.hpeiaaErnndeoccnidvaatwepphlaiil'sttsaaffallnoblleRRlgl<a.oo"i"uvww--so tShhauMtstyeemrra"snsonnpsamrantntnde'rtS,h4eL1aalnFtyemsZialailcdihoanry^,,1,:n.egi. tydrawsthejealousyofaHamiltonaunt. thenew,150-pagemanuscriptwhilesifting VirtuousEdithknowswhocommittedthe ttohnroLuigbhraArlyc.ottholdingsatHarvard'sHough- sheresolvestoaccreepvteatlhethbelnaammee.anIdnslteeaavde, lettTerhse,atnwdochoalvleabeodriatteeddAolncostetv'esrjaoluortnhaelrsparnod- jectsinvolvingtheauthor.Myersonsaidthey ctahlefJptuasagtnedi,fnrtioinmmteth,heaefwciianlsalltlotefwipasatgH,eapmcrioolndtfueocsnesseasnacteocsrttithoier- waneyrAtefhtisenerga,r*scewhchiunreginntgthhepeeysrftmaoicusknssdi,otn"hjeufsbrtooomlko.oHkairnvgafrodr revealingEdithisactuallyanheirtothe andthethreeheirstotheAlcottestateto family'sfortune. publishthemanuscript,theyapproached Tosweetentheending,Edith'svirtuewins Zacharytorepresentthem.Anyprofitsfrom hertheheartofthedashingLordPercy. "TheInheritance"wouldbesharedbetween Ahle'csoSthtfuiseftlidenirdn,gw,oTubhuletdnpLoooitnngtreevdFeaattloaldaentLaooitvlhseeroCfhroaefscfeee.nrt"s tahpepSrhhoeuaisrctshearpnusbdaliitdshheheirrsessaeagasernwccehlyelr.psl,aSnhsutshtiesrwseaeidk.to