Early 19th-century artist John James 探花精选 is often remembered as flamboyant and intense, but his wife 鈥渨asn鈥檛 any sort of shrinking violet" either, says poet Juditha Dowd.
Lucy Bakewell 探花精选 was a determined figure who became the primary breadwinner for her family鈥攚hich included her not-yet-famous husband鈥攁nd pulled them through financially desperate times. In suppport of John James 探花精选's artistic talents, she became a teacher and even founded a school at a time when women rarely earned wages. Oh, she also managed a household, bore four children, and tragically saw two die in infancy. Meanwhile, her life partner was absent for months, or years, at a time.
What was her husband doing? He was off painting birds!
Dowd, author of a new book, , tells the 探花精选s鈥 story in the time leading up to the publication of Birds of America. The twist is that it's written largely in Lucy鈥檚 voice, through imagined diary entries, letters, and poems deeply informed by historical research. Years earlier, Dowd happened to pick up a biography of John James from her own husband's nightstand. She quickly became more intrigued by Lucy's story than his. In time, Dowd decided to write what she calls a 鈥渂iography-in-poems鈥 focused on her.
鈥淲ithout Lucy, I鈥檓 not sure we would have known John James 探花精选," Dowd says. "She was such a strong figure, and they were so much a couple. He depended on her very much.鈥
Most of what historians know about Lucy's reality is through the words of others. In 探花精选鈥檚 Sparrow, which is due out for release in late April, Dowd presents what she imagines would have been Lucy's perspective, making it a deeply feminist retelling.
For example, towards the end of the book, Lucy offers a diary entry upon her husband's return to the United States from Europe, where he had been away for years working to find a publisher for his works. Records and letters tell us that he waited in New York, asking Lucy, who was living in Louisiana, to meet him there. But she insisted he journey to her, which he eventually did鈥攁n act Dowd believes put their marriage back on solid ground. In 探花精选鈥檚 Sparrow, we can imagine the frustration of what she might have been feeling.
Arrived,
Diary, June,1829
Yes, but when am I to see his face?
First he鈥檚 to the piney woods, the seacoast.
Thou knowest I must draw hard from Nature
every day that I am in America.
Detained now in New York by matters at the Lyceum,
and soon to Philadelphia鈥攚here he鈥檒l pause
for me to join him. Come! Hurry!
How can he not understand my situation鈥
completing the lessons, collecting late tuitions,
money we have need of more than ever now...
And skins and plants he demands I gather鈥
whole trunks-full he鈥檒l require for his future work,
and for his friends in England and in France,
who鈥檇 fancy a bit of wildlife from the Bayou.
He must not try to send a son to help me.
Let him come himself.
Of course, the central question Dowd鈥檚 book poses鈥鈥what does it mean to sacrifice for someone else鈥檚 art?鈥濃 applies far beyond Lucy Bakewell 探花精选.
Many of history鈥檚 most famous creative figures were supported or cared for by women who sacrified to foster their achievements. Often, it was that woman's loving choice to do so, as to Dowd, Lucy鈥檚 own story illustrates. But such a choice is also impossible to separate from the societal expectations that steer women on this path. 鈥淎ll of the artists were men, all of the composers were men, everything was men," Dowd says.
The book gets its title from a Birds of America plate of a Swamp Sparrow that is signed by the engraver in Lucy's name. Dowd and others have wondered: Was it 探花精选鈥檚 complicated joke, equating his 鈥渢all and spirited鈥 wife with a bird he described as 鈥渢imid鈥 and 鈥渄estitute of song.鈥 More likely, Dowd thinks, the gesture was a simple tribute to how much she meant to him. We'll never know, but Dowd鈥檚 book offers a remedy by letting us hear Lucy's song.
探花精选's Sparrow, by Juditha Dowd, Rose Metal Press, 144 pages, $15.95. Buy it at . Availabile in April.