This letter was sent to Thomas Wentworth Higginson in June 1878 (THJ, RWF). Two passages in this letter appear, text unaltered, in a letter from Dickinson to Maria Whitney, probably composed in early 1878 (THJ); see Ms Am 1118 10 [6]. Like the letter to Whitney, sent to her soon after the death of Samuel Bowles, the letter to Higginson was sent shortly after the death of his wife. Dickinson may have remembered (or kept a record of) certain passages from the letter to Whitney when writing to Higginson. For related fragments, see A 808 and A 855. Although both fragments may have been composed around 1878 (THJ), only one, inscribed on A 808, appears to be a draft of a passage in the letter; the other fragment, inscribed on A 855, was almost certainly an autonomous text, incorporated on this occasion because of its momentary aptness.

One editorial notation is penciled on BPL Higg 106: upper left, MLT?: [1878] [Summer]. The notation presumably refers to the date Higginson received—or recalled receiving—the letter.