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Herman Melville. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866....
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Description
A very fine association copy, inscribed to Brevet Major General Bartlett, the subject of one of the poems in this work
Herman Melville. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the
War. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866.8vo. Original terracotta cloth, gilt-lettered and decorated on spine, brown coated endpapers; cloth slipcase.
FIRST EDITION OF MELVILLE'S FIRST BOOK OF POETRY. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY MELVILLE TO BREVET MAJOR GENERAL BARTLETT on the front free endpaper: "Brevt Major Genl. Wm. F. Bartlett / with the respects of the Author / Arrowhead 1867." Includes a note from the grandson of the recipient attesting to his grandfather being the subject of the poem included in this volume.
A very fine presentation copy of Melville's first book of poetry, written in response to the Civil War and inscribed to a brevet major general in the War. The lack of financial success of Battle-Pieces would send Melville to his post at the Customs House where he would serve in obscurity for two decades. It was not until the twentieth century that critics began to argue for Melville's place within the American poetic tradition. In The Civil War World of Herman Melville, Stanton Garner described Melville as "the third participant in the mid-19th-century American poetic revolution," placing him alongside Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.
William Francis Bartlett (1840-1876) was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and, later, an executive in the iron industry. Bartlett enlisted as a private to serve in the Civil War, leaving in the midst of his studies at Harvard College. By the end of the war, he had risen to the grade of brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers and was awarded the honorary grade of brevet major general, U.S. Volunteers. He successively commanded two regiments, a brigade and a division. Over the course of the war, he was wounded four times. Bartlett was the subject of a poem ("The College Colonel") in this present work.
EXTREMELY RARE: Inscribed copies of Battle-Pieces are rare: according to online auction records only one other copy has appeared at auction since the Richard Manney copy in 1991.
Condition: Touch of wear to corners; some very slight rubbing to extremities; a few stray tiny ink spots on upper cover; a few very faint ring stains just visible on the finish on both covers; very slight soiling; a few minor blisters to cloth on rear cover. Otherwise, an extremely bright and fresh copy.
References: BAL 13673.
Provenance: William Francis Bartlett (presentation inscription); sold Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1975, sale 3813A, lot 571; purchased from George Robert Minkoff, Inc., Great Barrington, MA, 1977. From the William A. Strutz Library.
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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
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