LOT #45085 |
Sold on Jun 27, 2024 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Autograph letter signed ("Nath' Hawthorne"), to his cousin Eleanor F. Parker. Concord, 4 January 1863....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Hawthorne writing his cousin describing life at The Wayside
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Autograph letter signed ("Nath'
Hawthorne"), to his cousin Eleanor F. Parker. Concord, 4 January
1863.2 pages, 8vo (193 x 122 mm), on a bifolium. Housed in a quarter morocco folding case. Accompanied by a cabinet size photograph portrait of Hawthorne, by Hussey of Salem, signed by Parker on verso of mount; and a removed front free endpaper from a book with Parker's signature below a previous owner's gift inscription.
Hawthorne writes a personal letter to his cousin, recalling their early days together, updating her on his three children, and describing life at The Wayside.
In part: "Your kind note has gratified me very much, and brought vividly back the days when we used to know one another so well. I think that we have never met since you were seven or eight years old; at any rate, all my recollections of you refer to that delightful age... I have three children, the eldest of whom, Una, is almost nineteen. Julian is nearly seventeen, and will enter Harvard College next September. Rose is ten. They are all good children, and give their mother and me great satisfaction." He goes on to describe the Wayside: "We are living very comfortably at a little place which we call 'the Wayside,'-so named because we have moved so many times that I feel as if I were but sitting down to rest, and would ever go somewhere else. But as I have lately built an addition to my house, it looks very much like a better residence..."
The Wayside is now an historic house in Concord, Massachusetts, dating from the first part of the 18th century. In 1845, it became the home of the young Louisa May Alcott and her family, who named it Hillside. Hawthorne purchased the house in 1852, and moved his family there from The Old Manse, which was about two miles away. He renamed it The Wayside, since it stood so close to the road that it could have been mistaken for a coach stop.
Condition: Creased at folds, with some separations crossing text; some toning to central panel of second page of text, resulting from old mounting adhesive on corresponding section of blank integral leaf verso; blank integral leaf stained on verso from old mounting adhesive, with split. Cabinet card with minor spotting; corners rubbed. Front free endpaper with some toning.
Provenance: Purchased from MacDonnell Rare Books, Austin, 1990. From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 230
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $1,000,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $5,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms