1861 Rare Book - The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Illustrated
This book has been sold, but we regularly acquire comparable copies.
An elegant Victorian Longfellow, richly bound in red leather with gauffered gilt edges and illustrations by John Gilbert.
Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Title: The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Publisher: London, Routledge, Warne, and Routledge; New York, 56 Walker Street, 1861.
Language: English.
Size: 6.5" x 4.5".
Pages: viii, 669 pages.
Binding: Near-fine full red leather binding, richly blind-tooled with Gothic-style panels to the boards, raised bands, gilt title to spine, marbled endpapers, and gauffered gilt edges. Light rubbing and minor age wear only, as shown. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content, clean and well preserved overall, with light age-toning and occasional minor foxing.
Illustrations: Complete with 8 full-page illustrations, including the engraved frontispiece portrait of Longfellow. Illustrations by John Gilbert.
Estimate: USD $275–$350.
The book: A beautiful mid-Victorian illustrated edition of Longfellow’s poems, presented here in a particularly attractive red leather binding. This “Complete Edition” includes many of Longfellow’s best-loved works, among them The Village Blacksmith, Evangeline, The Golden Legend, and The Song of Hiawatha. The volume combines the devotional charm of a gift book with the literary substance of one of the most widely read American poets of the nineteenth century.
The binding is a major part of the appeal of this copy. The deep red leather, raised spine bands, blind-stamped Gothic decoration, marbled endpapers, and gauffered gilt edges give the book a strong decorative presence while remaining compact and very readable.
The author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most celebrated American poets of the nineteenth century. His narrative poems, moral lyrics, and historical subjects made him a household name in both America and Britain, and his works were frequently issued in finely bound gift editions such as this one.
The illustrator: Sir John Gilbert was a prolific English artist and illustrator, especially admired for his work in illustrated books and periodicals. His engravings brought a dramatic, narrative quality to many nineteenth-century literary editions, and here they lend Longfellow’s poems a distinctly Victorian visual atmosphere.