Lincoln Discussion Symposium
Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - Printable Version

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Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - ELCore - 06-13-2013 05:42 PM

This is a 13-year-old story by now, but it's fascinating, and I have a feeling a lot of you will find it as interesting as I did.

The impersonation of Emily: Part 1, Part 2.


RE: Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - Rsmyth - 06-14-2013 06:21 AM

Thanks for posting this. I remember when the story came out. It shook the Mormon church to its core. Hoffman would use blank frontice pages from period books to create forgeries.


RE: Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - brtmchl - 06-14-2013 12:16 PM

This is an amazing story. Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed reading about it. What an awful man Hoffman is.


RE: Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - ELCore - 06-14-2013 08:14 PM

You're welcome.

Having both the Johnson and Franklin reading editions of Dickinson's poetry, both of which I have spent a great deal of time with, I think Hoffman wrote a very good imitation of an Emily Dickinson poem.


RE: Story about forged Emily Dickinson poem. - My Name Is Kate - 06-15-2013 02:56 AM

That is a chilling story from beginning to end. Smart, personable people with no conscience are all too prevalent.

The poem is good, but maybe a little too straightforward for Emily. And I would question her having written such a poem for her ten-year-old nephew.