20–19664
These reminiscences of the wife of a poet center about her celebrated husband but are rich in pictures of other great personages that she has intimately known, notably Edwin Booth, William Dean Howells, Samuel L. Clemens, Robert Browning, James McNeill Whistler, Julia Ward Howe, Charles Dickens. The book is well illustrated and has an index.
+ Booklist 17:111 D ’20
“Mrs Aldrich’s memories are of superlative interest because of both their subject matter and the great intimacy of their manner.” E. F. Edgett
+ Boston Transcript p4 O 9 ’20 1500w
“The author’s stilted phrasing, trite similes, and thinly veiled snobbery offer a melancholy contrast to the easy-flowing naturalness and genial democracy of her gifted husband. Nevertheless, ‘Crowding memories’ is a valuable book because of the deep and abiding interest of many of the figures who appear in it.” A. R. H.
+ − Freeman 2:454 Ja 19 ’21 290w
“She has not produced a quite independent volume, for she quotes from Mr Greenslet’s book at considerable length and uses excerpts from Aldrich’s semi-autobiographical writings to complete the structure of her narrative. Nor has she the special gift of the great memoir writer, that easy command of detail which gives its solid reward in social documentations. But as a casual record of certain trivialities ‘Crowding memories’ is something of a social document.” C. M. Rourke
+ − New Repub 25:175 Ja 5 ’21 1300w