LATER LYRICS. [inscribed to her sister]

Howe, Julia Ward

Edité par Date d'édition : 1866

["Battle Hymn of the Republic"] Boston: J.E. Tilton & Company, 1866. 8 pp undated ads (printed in black and red). Original green cloth decorated in gilt. First Edition of this considerable collection of verse; the first group, "Poems of the War," concludes with one of the most famous American poems of all time, "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The poet, pacifist, abolitionist and social activist Julia Ward Howe wrote it in November 1861, just after she and her husband met Abraham Lincoln at the White House. (She wrote the poem as new words for the already-existing song "John Brown's Body"; the "Glory Glory Hallelujah" refrain was later added for the song version of her poem.) Her poem had first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862, and it quickly became the most popular song of the Union; this is its first appearance in book form. A few years later, in 1870, she wrote her famous "Mother's Day Appeal to Womanhood," calling upon women around the world to unite for peace -- 44 years before it became an actual holiday. This copy is in the primary binding (for which both purple cloth and this green cloth were used, without priority); there was also a later binding of terra-cotta cloth, with no gilt on the front cover and without the publisher's imprint on the spine. This copy is in very good condition, with general rubbing and with minor edge-wear; there are some tiny pin-holes at the top of the first two leaves, near the below inscription, where a note must have once been pinned. Blanck 9427. This is the presentation copy inscribed by the poet to her younger sister, "Annie Mailliard | from | J. W. H. | Dec. 21st 1865." Anne Eliza Ward (1824-1895) had married Adolphe Mailliard, reportedly a Bonaparte descendant; a few years after receiving this book, the couple permanently moved to the San Geronimo Valley in California, where Adolphe was president of the San Rafael & San Quentin Railway. This book was not actually published until mid-January 1866 (hence the date on its title page); Blanck refers to the copy JWH inscribed to Longfellow (now at Harvard), in which her inscription is dated one day later than in this copy. A scarce book in its own right, inscribed copies are rare: auction records note only one other inscribed copy (sold twice), with its inscription perhaps on a tipped-in leaf. N° de réf. du vendeur 15786

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : LATER LYRICS. [inscribed to her sister]
Date d'édition : 1866
Reliure : Couverture rigide
Signé : Signé par l'auteur
Edition : Edition originale