Amy Lowell of Boston was described by A. Edward Newton in his The Amenities of Book-Collecting and Kindred Affections (1918) as "A poet of rare distinction, a critic, and America's most distinguished woman collector." Having begun collecting at an early age, she ultimately assembled a literary library of some twelve thousand volumes, which included first editions, association copies, and autograph manuscripts of the great writers of English and American literature. She had a particular interest in John Keats and built one of the largest private collections of Keatsiana.

Lowell described herself to be "of thoroughgoing New England stock." She was a descendant of Percival Lowle, a merchant from Bristol who immigrated in 1639 to Newbury, Massachusetts. The Lowells of subsequent generations made their way to the pinnacle of Boston society, as the popular saying "the Cabots speak only to the Lowells and the Lowells speak only to God" attests. Amy...