The Song of Hiawatha.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing of Longfellow’s epic poem. This first printing of 22 November 1855 is definitively distinguished from the the second and later printings by issue points at pages 32 ("In the moon..."), 96 ("Dove..."), 268 ("Wahonomin"), 278 ("Cooed the Omemee..."), and 279 (on the fifth line from the bottom, the word "one" occurs with the "n" missing). The text is followed by 12 pages of publisher's advertisements dated "November, 1855." Condition is very good minus overall. The publisher's original brown cloth binding is square and tight and the spine gilt remains bright. There is typical wear and light fraying to the spine ends and corners and overall mild, superficial scuffing to the boards and spine. The contents are notably clean; we find no spotting and no previous ownership marks.
“Hiawatha was described by the poet as an “Indian Edda.” Though it has some epic characteristics, it is essentially a collection of traditional tales derived mainly from the writings of the ethnologist and explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who hailed it as the first literary work in which the American Indian was treated seriously and respectfully, and the Moravian missionary John G. E. Heckewelder.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was both a professor of modern languages and a poet. In the latter role he was a rare exception to the norm, achieving fame, acclaim, and broad popularity during his lifetime. “Longfellow was enormously popular, especially during his later years; at the end of his life, his birthday was even being celebrated in schools. He was as beloved in England as in America; people from everywhere came to see him, and his last trip to Europe in 1868–1869 was virtually a triumphant processional. Queen Victoria received him in a private audience, and both Oxford and Cambridge gave him honorary degrees. He was the first front-ranking New England poet of his time to die, and his death in Cambridge, closely followed by that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, for many marked the end of an era.”
When first published thus in 1855, The Song of Hiawatha “was an immediate success, propelling Longfellow into literary stardom and influencing popular culture for decades to come. In this epic work, Longfellow set out to honor Native American heritage, but simultaneously perpetuated stereotypes and the false assertion that Indigenous culture was dying in America. Since then, the merits and pitfalls of Hiawatha have been rightly debated as its hold on American culture endures.”
References: BAL 12112, p.494; ANB; NPS. Item #008470
Price: $750.00