Margaret Caroline Anderson (November 24, 1886 – October 19, 1973) was the American founder, editor and publisher of the

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and literary magazine ''

The Little Review ''The Little Review'' was an American avant-garde literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, published literary and art work from 1914 to May 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound ...

'', which published a collection of modern American, English and Irish writers between 1914 and 1929. The periodical is most noted for introducing many prominent American and British writers of the 20th century, such as

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

, in the United States and publishing the first thirteen chapters of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's then-unpublished novel '' Ulysses''. A large collection of Anderson's papers on

Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff ( – 29 October 1949) was a philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Born in the Russian Empire, he briefly became a citizen of the First Republic of Armenia after its formation in 19 ...

's teaching is preserved at the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Early life

Anderson was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, in November 1886, the eldest of three daughters of Arthur Aubrey Anderson and Jessie (Shortridge) Anderson. She graduated from high school in

Anderson, Indiana Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...

, in 1903 and then entered a two-year junior preparatory class at Western College for Women in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

1908, Chicago

In 1906, she left college at the end of her freshman year to pursue a career as a pianist. In the fall of 1908, she left home for

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where she reviewed books for a religious weekly (''The Continent'') before joining '' The Dial''. By 1913, she was a book critic for the '' Chicago Evening Post''.

1914, ''The Little Review''

In March 1914, Anderson founded the avant-garde literary magazine ''

'' during Chicago's literary renaissance. "An organ of two interests, art and good talk about art", the monthly's first issue featured articles on

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

. Early funding was intermittent, and for six months in 1914 she was forced out of her Lake Bluff residence at 837 West Ainslie Street in Chicago, as well as the magazine's offices at 410 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building. During this period, she camped with Harriet Dean, family members, and staff members on a

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

beach. The writer

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and play ...

described her this way:

She was blond, shapely, with lean ankles and a Scandinavian face. ... I forgave her her chastity because she was a genius. During the years I knew her she wore the same suit, a tailored affair in robin's egg blue. Despite this unvarying costume she was as chic as any of the girls who model today for the fashion magazines. ... It was surprising to see a coiffure so neat on a noggin so stormy.

In 1916, Anderson met Jane Heap, a spirited intellectual and artist immersed in Chicago's

Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

and a former lover of the novelist

Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes ( ; June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel '' Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist lite ...

. The two became lovers, and Anderson convinced Heap to become co-editor of ''The Little Review''. Heap maintained a low profile, signing her contributions simply "JH", but she had a major impact on the success of the journal through its bold and radical content. For a while, Anderson and Heap published the magazine out of a ranch in Muir Woods, in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

1917, New York

In 1917, Anderson and Heap moved to New York's

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. With the help of the poet and critic

, * * who acted as Anderson's foreign editor in London, ''The Little Review'' published some of the most influential new writers in the English language, including Hart Crane,

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

, Pound himself, and

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

. The magazine's most published poet was the New York

dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, with whom Heap became friends on the basis of their shared confrontational feminist and artistic agendas. Other notable contributors included

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), and his memoir, ''Exile's Return'' ( ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review (1924), The Transatlant ...

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

Vachel Lindsay Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (; November 10, 1879 – December 5, 1931) was an American poet. He is considered a founder of modern ''singing poetry,'' as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted. Early years Lindsay was born ...

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 188927 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were ...

, and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

. Even so, however, Anderson once published an issue with a dozen blank pages to protest the temporary lack of exciting new works. In 1918, starting with the March issue, ''The Little Review'' began serializing

's '' Ulysses''. Over time the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

seized and burned four issues of the magazine, and Anderson and Heap were convicted of obscenity charges. Although the obscenity trial was ostensibly about ''Ulysses'', Irene Gammel argues that ''The Little Review'' came under attack for its overall subversive tone and, in particular, its publication of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven's sexually explicit poetry and outspoken defense of Joyce. During the trial in February 1921, hundreds of Greenwich Villagers, men and women, marched into Special Court Sessions; the outcome was that Anderson and Heap were fined $100 each and fingerprinted.

1924, France

In early 1924, through Alfred Richard Orage, Anderson learned of the spiritual teacher George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, and she saw performances of his "

sacred dance Sacred dance is the use of dance in religious Ceremony, ceremonies and rituals, present in most religions throughout history and prehistory. Its connection with the human body and fertility has caused it to be forbidden by some religions; for exa ...

s", first at the Neighbourhood Playhouse and later at Carnegie Hall. Shortly after Gurdjieff's automobile accident, Anderson, along with Georgette Leblanc, Jane Heap and Monique Surrere, moved to France to visit him at Fountainebleau-Avon, where he had set up his institute at Château du Prieuré in Avon. Anderson and Heap adopted the two sons of Anderson's ailing sister, Lois. They brought Lois and her sons, Tom and Arthur "Fritz" Peters, to Prieuré in June 1924. After they returned to New York in 1925, the two boys were taken in by Alice B. Toklas and

. In 1929,

Solita Solano Solita Solano (born Sarah Wilkinson; October 30, 1888 – November 22, 1975) was an American writer, poet and journalist. Biography Early life Sarah Wilkinson came from a middle-class family and attended the Emma Willard School in Troy, New ...

had an affair with Anderson, who had come to Paris with her lover, the French singer Georgette Leblanc. The affair lasted several years, though Anderson remained living with Leblanc. In 1929, Anderson and Heap separated. That year, Heap put out the final issue of ''The Little Review'', edited at Hotel St. Germain-Des-Pres, 36 rue Bonaparte, Paris. Afterward, Heap moved to England. In 1935, Jane Heap moved to London, where Heap led Gurdjieff study groups until her death in 1964. Anderson got to know Elizabeth Jenks Clark through Solita Solano after Clark returned to the US. Clark and Solano became Anderson's closest friends, although Anderson had in the meantime fallen in love with Dorothy Caruso, widow of the singer

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

. Later, Anderson moved to

Le Cannet Le Cannet (; ; older ) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Administration Le Cannet was part of Cannes until 1778, when it was made a separate commune. Location Le Cannet is located in the north of Canne ...

on the

French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

(

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

), to live in "le phare de Tancarville", a lighthouse. She lived there for many years with Georgette Leblanc, her sister Lois and Lois's daughter Linda Card.

Gurdjieff

The teachings of George Ivanovitch

played an important role in Anderson's life. Anderson met Gurdjieff in Paris and, together with Leblanc, began studies with him, focusing on his original teaching called The Fourth Way. From 1935 to 1939, Anderson and Leblanc studied with Gurdjieff as part of a group of women known as "The Rope", which included eight members in all. Besides Anderson and Leblanc, these were Jane Heap, Elizabeth Gordon, Solita Solano,

Kathryn Hulme Kathryn Cavarly Hulme (January 6, 1900 – August 25, 1981) was an American novelist and memoirist. Writing Hulme is known for her best-selling 1956 novel ''The Nun's Story'', which was adapted into an Academy Awards, award-winning The Nun ...

, Louise Davidson and Alice Rohrer. Along with

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

and Jane Heap, she remains one of the most noted disciples at Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, near Paris, from October 1922 to 1924. Anderson studied with Gurdjieff in France until his death in October 1949, writing about him and his teachings in most of her books, most extensively in her memoir, ''The Unknowable Gurdjieff''.Anderson Profile
''

''.

1942, New York

In 1942, evacuating from the war in France, Anderson sailed for the United States. With her passage paid by Ernest Hemingway, Anderson met on the voyage

Dorothy Caruso Dorothy Park Benjamin Caruso (August 6, 1893 – December 16, 1955) was an American socialite and the wife of the Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. Life Born Dorothy Park Benjamin on August 6, 1893, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, she wa ...

, widow of the famous

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. The two began a romantic relationship, became lovers, and lived together, in New York, until Dorothy's death in 1955.

1955, France

In 1955, Anderson returned to

, and there she died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

on October 19, 1973. She is buried beside Georgette Leblanc in the Notre Dame des Anges Cemetery.

Commemoration

Anderson was the subject of an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

– nominated documentary entitled '' Beyond Imagining: Margaret Anderson and the "Little Review"'' in 1991, by Wendy L. Weinberg.Margaret Anderson -Bibliography
'

''. An exhibition, "Making No Compromise: Margaret Anderson and the ''Little Review''", celebrated the life and work of Margaret Anderson and the ''Little Review''s remarkable influence. It opened at the Beinecke Library,

, in October 2006, and ran for three months. In 2006, Anderson and Jane Heap were inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. In 2014, Anderson was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

Selected works

Anderson published a three-volume autobiography, consisting of ''My Thirty Years' War'' (1930), along with ''The Fiery Fountains'', and ''The Strange Necessity'', written in her last years in Le Cannet. There she also wrote her final book, the novel and memoir, ''Forbidden Fires''. * 1930: . * 1951: ''The Fiery Fountains: The Autobiography: Continuation and Crisis to 1950'', . * 1953: ''The Little Review Anthology, Hermitage House'', 1953. * 1959: ''Margaret C. Anderson Correspondence with Ben and Rose Caylor Hecht''. * 1962: ''The Strange Necessity: The Autobiography'', . * 1962:
The Unknowable Gurdjieff
', memoir, dedicated to Jane Heap. 1962, Arkana. . * 1996: ''Forbidden Fires'', part memoir, part novel, Ed. by Mathilda M. Hills. .

Bibliography

* * ''Pound/the Little Review: The Letters of Ezra Pound to Margaret Anderson : the Little Review Correspondence'', By Ezra Pound, Thomas L. Scott, Melvin J. Friedman, Jackson R. Bryer. Published by New Directions, 1988. . * * * ''Ladies of the Rope: Gurdjieff's Special Left Bank Women's Group'', by William Patrick Patterson. Arete Pubns, 1998 . . * Baggett, Holly A. (ed.) (2000), ''Dear Tiny Heart: The Letters of Jane Heap and Florence Reynolds'', New York University Press * *
America—Meet Modernism! Women of the Little Magazine Movement
', by Barbara Probst Solomon, Sarah. Great Marsh Press, 2003. . *

References

External links

Images

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

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Margaret Anderson
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