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Letters and Social Aims

Letters and Social Aims

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Letters and Social Aims

by EMERSON Ralph Waldo

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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$11,000.00
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About This Item

1876. First Edition . Signed. EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1876 [i.e. 1875]. Octavo, original terracotta cloth. Housed in a half morocco chemise and full morocco slipcase. $11,000.First edition, first printing, association copy, of the last volume of essays published during Emerson's lifetime, bearing the ownership signature of Emerson's neighbor, Jeanie M. LeBrun, and additionally signed for her by Emerson and dated by him in the year of publication, ""6 Jan 1876.""This was the last volume of essay published during Emerson's lifetime. By the 1870s, Emerson had faded and ""gradually slipped into a serene senility in which his mind finally became a calm blank"" (OCAL). ""A longtime friend, James Elliot Cabot, was enlisted by the family to help put Emerson's literary manuscripts in order and prepare his lectures for delivery and his writings for publication… Cabot and Emerson's daughter Ellen put together a final volume of essays, Letters and Social Aims (1876), some reprinted ('The Comic,' 'Quotation and Originality,' and 'Persian Poetry') and others drawn from Emerson's manuscripts ('Poetry and Imagination,' 'Social Aims,' 'Eloquence,' 'Resources,' 'Progress of Culture,' 'Inspiration,' 'Greatness,' and 'Immortality')… Emerson died quietly in Concord and was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, close to the graves of the Alcotts, Hawthornes, and Thoreaus"" (ANB). First printing, with ""N"" on page 209 and with ""inviolate"" and ""choices"" on page 308 (changed respectively in the second and third printings to ""inviolable"" and ""choice""). Though this work is dated 1876, the first printing took place on December 16, 1875 and was first advertised on Christmas of that year in Publisher's Weekly. Myerson A43.1a. BAL 5272. This copy belonged to and bears the ownership signature of Jean M. LeBrun, a Concord neighbor of the Emersons, as well as the Thoreaus, Alcotts, and Hawthornes. LeBrun's signature is dated Christmas day, just days after publication, suggesting that this book may have been a gift to her—one that she embellished by securing Emerson's signature. LeBrun would later attain her own minor fame for a piece she wrote to the Boston Advertiser in 1883 (later separately published in booklet form) that responded to the 1882 first book-length biography of Thoreau. The biography was written by Frank B. Sanborn, yet another Concord neighbor who worked as a schoolteacher instructing the children of Emerson, Hawthorne, and James. Sanborn also proposed to Emerson's daughter, Edith, who rejected him. In his biography of Thoreau, Sanborn presented an unflattering and ungenerous portrait of Thoreau's mother. Jean LeBrun, in her piece for the Advertiser undertook to defend both Thoreau and his mother posthumously.Interior with only a couple faint stains, light rubbing to extremities of binding. A near-fine copy.

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Details

Bookseller
Bauman Rare Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
107344
Title
Letters and Social Aims
Author
EMERSON Ralph Waldo
Book Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Date Published
1876

Terms of Sale

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About the Seller

Bauman Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

About Bauman Rare Books

In business since 1973, Bauman Rare Books now has locations in New York, Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Association Copy
An association copy is a copy of a book which has been signed and inscribed by the author for a personal friend, colleague, or...
Rubbing
Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
BAL
Bibliography of American Literature (commonly abbreviated as BAL in descriptions) is the quintessential reference work for any...
Morocco
Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. (see also...

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