Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. See “HART, ABRAHAM:” “publisher, philanthropist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa … In 1823, the boy was put to work … he was introduced to Henry C. Carey, of the publishing house of Carey & Lea, who gave him a position. When the business of the firm was divided in 1829 young Hart became associated with Edward L. Carey in the bookselling and publishing business under the style of E. L. Carey & A. Hart … Enterprising to a remarkable degree, the new firm, both of whose members were very young, made rapid progress … After the death of Edward L. Carey, in 1845, Hart conducted the business with Henry Carey Baird as partner until 1849, when the firm was dissolved.” See also Kaser 47–8.
2. Sommer “Embedded Authorship” made no mention of Hart.
3. The next day, on 3 January 1846, Carlyle wrote to Emerson: “I have just written to Mr Hart of Philadelphia; his Draft (as I judge clearly by the Banker’s speech and silence) is accepted, all right; and in fact, means money at this time: for which I have written to thank him heartily” (Carlyle and Carlyle, XX, 92–3). Two years later, Carlyle discovered that his banker had in fact lost the draft (Carlyle and Carlyle, XXIII, 168–9, 225).
4. For Rosenbach’s reflections on auctions, see Rosenbach 69–87, in which he remarked: “Of all the branches of the sport connected with book collecting, that of attending book auctions is the greatest, the most stirring” (75). With regard to “autograph letters,” Rosenbach wrote: “They naturally hold a more personal message, in that they interpret the spirit and reflect the period of the writer, who in informal letters is off guard, quite unlike the mood that an author brings to his work when he knows it may be published” (155).
5. For a discussion of Carlyle’s general attitude to Jews, including his propensity for anti-Semitic banter, see Park.
6. The author wishes to thank Megan Scauri, the Senior Librarian for Special Collections & Digital Projects at the American Jewish Historical Society, for providing information regarding the provenance of the letter.