Lot Details
Lot 40
LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH Autograph fair copy signed of Hermes Trismegistus.
Likely in the hand of Longfellow's daughter, signed at the end by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; a manuscript intended for the publisher. Cambridge, MA: 1882. Violet crushed morocco, edges tooled in gilt to a palmate design, dentelles with a Greek key motif, cream moire silk pastedown and endsheet. 12 1/2 x 10 inches (32 x 25.5 cm); engraved portrait frontispiece of Longfellow, six leaves of manuscript in ink, a second engraved portrait of Longfellow, the cover of the February 1882 issue of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in which the poem first appeared, the two text leaves that comprise the first appearance of the poem, and a final portrait of Longfellow. All of the contents are inlaid to the page size. Light wear to the binding, the manuscript with traces of the usual folds.
One of Longfellow's last poems before his death in March of 1882. Notes at the head of the first leaf indicate "Copy received at 2:50 p.m" in purple ink and another in pencil "Set at once & send proofs this afternoon. Ed." A pencil note in another hand reads simply "Clara" (possibly Longfellow's friend Clara Crowninshield?), though the hand in which the manuscript is written is likely that of Edith Longfellow. This manuscript sold at Anderson Galleries, June 1, 1904; we do not trace another appearance at auction subsequently.
C
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