MANUSCRIPT: AC. Ink.

PUBLICATION: L (1894) 212-213; LL 245-246; L (1931) 187-188, in part.

The extensive collection of the letters of Samuel Bowles to Austin and Susan Dickinson (HCL) shows that their friendship began to devleop about 1858. At that time a letter written in friendly but not intimate terms speaks of Mrs. Bowles's sorrow at the birth of a stillborn child. ED's hope that their trip had "gladdened Mrs. Bowles" suggests that the visit to Amherst had been made for Mrs. Bowles's sake. The time of the year is indicated by the nine o'clock sunset. The concluding biblical allusion is to I Corinthians 3.21-22: "Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours."

This is the only letter written jointly to Mr. and Mrs. Bowles.