1881 Rare First Edition - Legends of the Northwest by Hanford Lennox Gordon

Author: H. L. Gordon.
Title: Legends of the Northwest.
Publisher: St. Paul, Minn., The St. Paul Book and Stationery Co., 1881. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8.5 x 6.5 inches.
Pages: viii-143 pages + Errata slip tipped in at the end.
Binding: Attractive and very good the original publisher’s brown cloth binding with gilt and black decorative stamping on the cover and spine, featuring a Native American figure in gilt. The spine shows some light rubbing, and there is mild edgewear to the corners and spine tips (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, includes a prior owner’s decorative bookplate on the front pastedown and an inscription dated 1882 on the front free endpaper - as shown). 
Illustrations: Enriched with detailed black-and-white illustrations, including a fine engraved frontispiece (“View at the Meeting-of-Waters”) protected by tissue guard and several engraved vignettes scattered through the text, all finely executed and enhancing the poetic retellings of Native American legends. (Complete).

The book: A rare and evocative 1881 first edition of H. L. Gordon’s Legends of the Northwest, presenting a lyrical blend of poetry and storytelling inspired by the rich Native American traditions and landscapes of the Upper Midwest. The collection includes legends such as “The Feast of the Virgins,” “Winona,” “The Legend of the Falls,” and “The Sea Gull,” which draw on the oral histories and mythologies of the Dakota and Ojibwa peoples, as well as romantic depictions of regional landmarks like Lake Superior and Minnetonka. This edition captures a 19th-century fascination with the American frontier and Native lore, making it both a literary artifact and a cultural document.

The author: Hannibal Lafayette Gordon (1836–1921) was a Minnesota lawyer, poet, and author known for his deep interest in the regional histories and native cultures of the American Midwest. His writing often blends historical detail, romantic imagination, and an early preservationist impulse, reflecting the era’s growing interest in capturing the “vanishing” stories and landscapes of the American frontier. Gordon’s works, though less known today, were appreciated in his time for their lyrical intensity and local color.