My dear governess : the letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann / edited by Irene Goldman-Price.

An exciting archive came to auction in 2009: the papers and personal effects of Anna Catherine Bahlmann (1849-1916), a governess and companion to several prominent American families. Among the collection were one hundred thirty-five letters from her most famous pupil, Edith Newbold Jones, later the great American novelist Edith Wharton. Remarkably, until now, just three letters from Wharton's childhood and early adulthood were thought to survive. Bahlmann, who would become Wharton's literary secretary and confidant, emerges in the letters as a seminal influence, closely guiding her precocious young student's readings, translations, and personal writing. Taken together, these letters, written over the course of forty-two years, provide a deeply affecting portrait of mutual loyalty and influence between two women from different social classes.

This correspondence reveals Wharton's maturing sensibility and vocation, and includes details of her life that will challenge long-held assumptions about her formative years. Wharton scholar Irene Goldman-Price provides a rich introduction to My Dear Governess that restores Bahlmann to her central place in Wharton's life.

Author Notes

Irene Goldman-Price has taught literature and women's studies at Ball State University and Penn State University. She serves on the editorial board of the Edith Wharton Review and has consulted and taught at The Mount, Edith Wharton's house museum in Massachusetts.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Given her preoccupations with class and social status, it is apropos that Wharton scholar Goldman-Price's volume makes available Wharton's letters to Anna Bahlmann-her tutor, governess, and secretary-and offers a glimpse inside that class-bound high society. Bahlmann began as a German tutor for the precocious 12-year-old Wharton and the two bonded as the older woman fed her student's voracious appetite and nurtured her literary ambitions. The most engaging material comes from this early part of their relationship, during which Bahlmann offered criticism of Wharton's literary efforts and made suggestions for further reading. Over the years, Bahlmann became something of a personal assistant and a member of the Wharton household staff, often responsible for turning Wharton's manuscripts into print. Despite clear affection, Wharton's letters to Bahlmann are frustratingly devoid of comment either on her tumultuous life (a husband institutionalized, a faithless lover) or artistic process. Aesthetically flat and concerned with tedious domestic matters-cities to travel to next, the quality of the day's outing-the letters will only interest specialists. However, despite the lackluster content, the volume itself is well edited, with a competent introduction and a useful commentary throughout that situates each letter in the context of Wharton's life and travels. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Choice Review

Some books of letters featuring prominent artists and writers help shape the reader's perception of that person, transforming the famous figure into a real and tangible being. Goldman-Price's collection of Wharton's letters to her governess--and later secretary--Anna Bahlmann accomplishes that and more. The letters give readers access to Wharton's early life, providing information ranging from the illuminating to the simply delightful--that Wharton learned to ice skate in two days; that she reported her weight to Bahlmann as evidence of her health; that before she toured Europe in her motorcars, she enjoyed riding her bicycle with her husband, Teddy, at times riding as much as 20 miles, sightseeing and stopping along the way. More seriously, this collection rebuts long-held notions about Wharton's social isolation as a debutante in New York City and, perhaps most significantly, peels away the artifice of Wharton's self-created narrative of herself as a young artist toiling away without the support and understanding of her family. In a phrase, this book changes everything one knows about Wharton's early life and development as a writer. Absolutely required reading for those interested in Wharton or in turn-of-the-century New York and New England society. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. S. Batcos Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta

Library Journal Review

Anna Bahlmann tutored Wharton in German beginning in 1873, when Wharton-then Edith Newbold Jones-was 11. Their association continued until Bahlmann's death in 1916; thus Bahlmann served as governess, companion, and secretary to Wharton for over 40 years. The 135 letters in this volume, written by Wharton to Bahlmann and spanning the years 1874-1916, were recently acquired by Yale University; they are especially valuable because they represent a period for which little primary Wharton documentation is known to exist. Apparently Wharton did not save Bahlmann's letters to her. Editor Goldman-Price (coeditor, American Literary Mentors) provides a precise transcription of the Wharton letters and includes some Bahlmann letters to others. Wharton's letters here describe her reading, her travel adventures, and the weather and show Wharton's thorough knowledge of French and Italian history and her enthusiastic appreciation of drama, music, and painting. There is less on Wharton's personal relationships and works, although Goldman-Price contends that a great deal of new information about Wharton's life is revealed through these letters. VERDICT This is essential for Wharton scholars as well as informed general readers interested in Wharton or her literary and social circles.-Kathryn R. Bartelt, Univ. of Evansville Libs., IN (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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