Literary Lions

Emma Lazarus moved among New York's more elite circles. She was a fixture at her good friends the Gilders' famous Friday night salons. Recalling one of those nights, Lazarus wrote, "Helena's 'Friday Evngs.' grow more & more brilliant- last Friday she had about 50 people, literary, artistic, social 'lions' of all kinds."

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Lazarus' correspondents included many American intellectual figures of the day, and their letters to her are marked with deep respect. E.C. Stedman, who was one of the most influential poets and critics of the time, thanked her for a recent critique, remarking, "There is no opinion I value more than that of one whom I recognize as a true artist, as a genuine member of my own guild."

Her busy European travels also put her in contact with luminaries like Robert Browning and William Morris. As Henry James wrote her, "You appear to have done more in three weeks than any lightfooted woman before; when you ate or slept I have not yet made definite."

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Lazarus' social life was filled with cultural events. With her friends she shared concerts, plays, and galleries, and constantly discussed literature. Her letters home from overseas are full of exuberant experiences, "drinking in with every sense the spirit of the antique world and the beauty of life." As she wrote, "My own curiosity and interest are insatiable."

Notes

Next—Heinrich Heine