American poet and educator (1807-1882) Autograph letter (fragment). [Boston. 12mo. 2 pp. (19 lines).
750 €
(88901/BN58881)
The letter with New Year wishes was probably addressed to a British friend, as Longfellow mentions his astonishment that Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is little published in England: "A new interesting book, just published here in Boston, but not yet published in England except in old magazines. How is it that a writer of so much power as De Quincey is so much neglected in his own country?". - From 1851 Ticknor, Reed and Fields of Boston published the collected works of Thomas De Quincey, starting with his most famous work, "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater".
Longfellow also mentions Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lloyd, friends of De Quincey's, as well as a mutual friend or acquaintance who came to Boston "and has brought out six or eight extremely interesting volumes". - With a collector's note in pencil. Traces of folds. A minor tear to the fold and some browning..
American poet (1807-1882). Autograph letter signed ("Henry W. Longfellow"). Cambridge near Boston. 8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium. With a poem by J. R. titled "To the poet Longfellow on his late bereavement".
850 €
(95790/BN63589)
To a British admirer "J. R." from Camberwell, London, who had written Longfellow a poem in commemoration of the recent and tragic death of the poet's second wife: "I ought sooner to have thanked you for your words of sympathy and for your beautiful and touching poem. But you will understand how difficult, nay how impossible it is for me to speak upon that subject. I can only thank you, and lay my hand upon my mouth and my mouth in the dust [...]". The remainder of the letter discusses the American Civil War, then in its tenth month.
Longfellow reports that "political affairs are going on better and better. The last week brought us news of three important victories; Roanoke Island in North Carolina; Fort Henry in Tennessee and Springfield in Missouri. The rebellion is doomed, and with it Slavery! The North has at last begun to move, and it is in the cause of Freedom; for disguise it as you may, this is a part of the great battle, the 'irrepressible conflict', which is always going on in the world between Right and Wrong, between Freedom and Slavery [...]". - Mr. J. R.'s poem, entitled "To the poet Longfellow on his late bereavement," consists of seven stanzas, beginning: "The dearest form that claimed thine earthly love / No more on earth can greet thy tender gaze. / Her spirit radiant now in realms above, / Sings in the anthems of celestial praise [...]". Longfellow's wife Frances Appleton had died in July 1861 after setting fire to her dress in a household accident. Her tragic death affected Longfellow very deeply, and it is telling of his gentleness and sense of duty that he would grace such an unexpected submission with so personal a response..