Robert Frost and John Bartlett: The Record of a Friendship

xiv, 224 pp. "As a young English teacher at the Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire, Robert Frost first met Margaret Abbott and John Bartlett in 1907 when they were his students. Walking miles down the country roads with John, talking of astronomy or Greek mythology or simply observing nature, Frost established a friendship with the boy that was to last the rest of their lives. After John and Margaret married, in 1912, "Rob" was not only a faithful correspondent but also the most welcome guest in their home. On Frost's request, the letters he wrote to John "in the simplicity of the heart back there when none of us was anybody," were kept private until after his death. Passed on to the Barletts' daughter, Margaret B. Anderson, they now appear, augmented by her affectionate recollections, in a warm, acutely perceptive portrait of a beloved family friend."