| Description |
Introduction as its initiation came soon after, and much of the material dwells upon, the loss of the author's first wife Harriett Richards Harwood (1870-1722). The memoirs are called by its creator A Basket of Chips, and several problems are involved in the work's title, organiza- tion, character, and purpose. First of all, what is a "chip"? It is "a small fragment, as of wood, chopped, cut, or broken off." Also, it can be something "having qualities of that from which it is taken; - especially of persons; as `a chip of (or off )' the old block,' a child that resembles its father." That Harwood's chips were meant "to light your fire and the glow give beauty to all that come within reach" is clear from his dedication. It also seems certain that such chips are "off the old block," as he dedicates his writings "to my children, their children, and all my posterity." He also refers in the manuscript to his first son, Willard, as "this chip," and then makes statements about "tendencies inherited" by the boy. Reference is also made to "another chip . . . born to the Har- wood family, this time to James (Harwood's second son from his first marriage} and Frances." Yet a Harwood chip is more complex than this. For instance, the original "block" implied is sometimes the painter's father. "Our object was . . . to propa- gate the English walnut that my father was instrumental in bringing to this state. The `chip' you see." Then, at another point "The tendency of this chip came from both sides of the family . . . . The combination . . . resulted in handing to me my mode of expression, and I cannot remember when I was not trying to draw." Here the block is enlarged to include the whole Harwood family (English walnut) tree. The answer to the question raised by the title is, of course, that the chips are all of these, and they are each of the themes or memoirs under the chapter headings the writer used to desig- nate individual lines of thought. Fortunately, however, he does not belabor the point, and the chip references are few. The need to stay with this play on words is compelling in terms of one more aspect of A Bmket of Chips. Having handwritten the xv |
