Robert Todd Lincoln --The vitals

[kerry]

She was definitely in New York, and the ghostwriter is named as James Redpath in some sources. She made no mention of a diary and said she told them everything and then provided the letters as proof. She was living with a family in New York doing sewing, and wrapping up the Old Clothes stuff. I feel like there is info in Behind the Scenes that has more significance than has been recognized, but haven't been able to figure out exactly what. I believe she named the woman she was living with, which I thought was a little odd, given she redacted the names of most people. She spends a lot of time describing the tiny room she is in, as though her life was over. I know the scandal must have ruined her business, but it was a very abrupt change in her self-portrayal. I'm not sure if the editors did that -- probably, because it made her seem more submissive and womanly, when really it was a pretty bold book on a number of levels. It seems very few copies sold, but so much of it was published in the papers that it almost didn't matter. There are also weird gaps in the letters published, and I wonder what she and Mary wrote about in the interim. This is how the book ends:

"Weeks lengthened into months, and at Mrs. Lincoln's urgent request I remained in New York, to look after her interests. When she left the city I engaged quiet lodgings in a private family, where I remained about two months, when I moved to 14 Carroll Place, and became one of the regular boarders of the house. Mrs. Lincoln's venture proved so disastrous that she was unable to reward me for my services, and I was compelled to take in sewing to pay for my daily bread. My New York expedition has made me richer in experience, but poorer in purse. During the entire winter I have worked early and late, and practised the closest economy. Mrs. Lincoln's business demanded much of my time, and it was a constant source of trouble to me. When Mrs. L. left for the West, I expected to be able to return to Washington in one week from the day; but unforeseen difficulties arose, and I have been detained in the city for several months. As I am writing the concluding pages of this book, I have succeeded in closing up Mrs. Lincoln's imprudent business arrangement at 609 Broadway. The firm of Brady & Keyes is dissolved, and Mr. Keyes has adjusted the account. The story is told in a few words. On the 4th of March I received the following invoice from Mr. Keyes . . . This closed up the business, and with it I close the imperfect story of my somewhat romantic life. I have experienced many ups and downs, but still am stout of heart. The labor of a lifetime has brought me nothing in a pecuniary way. I have worked hard, but fortune, fickle dame, has not smiled upon me. If poverty did not weigh me down as it does, I would not now be toiling by day with my needle, and writing by night, in the plain little room on the fourth floor of No. 14 Carroll Place. And yet I have learned to love the garret-like room. Here, with Mrs. Amelia Lancaster as my only companion, I have spent many pleasant hours, as well as sad ones, and every chair looks like an old friend. In memory I have travelled through the shadows and the sunshine of the past, and the bare walls are associated with the visions that have come to me from the long-ago. As I love the children of memory, so I love every article in this room, for each has become a part of memory itself. Though poor in worldly goods, I am rich in friendships, and friends are a recompense for all the woes of the darkest pages of life. For sweet friendship's sake, I can bear more burdens than I have borne."