1861 June 13 [Boston, Massachusetts]

Dear Charles [Eliot Norton]

No club tonight,
but next Thursday. I
want you to come &
dine tomorrow (1/2 past
2) with Thompson & O[liver].W[endell].
H[olmes].

Ever yours
J[ames].R[ussell].L[owell].

This brief note between two literary giants of the 19th century does not mention the war but both men were avid supporters of the Union cause as was Holmes. Charles Eliot Norton, 1827-1908, served as secretary of the Loyal Publication Society. James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891, used his poetical talents in the cause of abolition and in praise of Lincoln and the Union. Three of his nephews died in the war including General Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., killed at Cedar Creek in 1864. After the war both men were active in the "Dante Club," helping Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy

MSS 6219