A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, the Parsons-Engelhard copy - photo 1

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, the Parsons-Engelhard copy

Lot 273
16.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 8 190
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 967473
Lot 273 | A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, the Parsons-Engelhard copy
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
THOREAU, Henry David (1817-1862). A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe and Company, 1849.

A fine and bright copy of the true first edition of Thoreau's first book, with the ownership signature of abolitionist, suffrage advocate, and Salem native William Ingersoll Bowditch. From the libraries of Katharine de B. Parsons and Jane Engelhard. In one of the most famous episodes in American publishing history, in 1849 Henry David Thoreau had 1000 sets of sheets of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers printed at his own expense. The book hardly sold and in 1853 the remaining 706 copies were sent back to Thoreau, where they sat in his attic bedroom for the next nine years. On receiving the volumes Thoreau humorously said "I have now a library of nearly 900 volumes, over 700 of which I wrote myself!" In 1862, once Thoreau's reputation as a writer was more established, publishers Ticknor and Fields bought 595 copies directly from Thoreau, inserted a new title, and re-issued the book resulting in the much more common second issue. This present copy is from the library of Boston lawyer William Ingersoll Bowditch. Originally from Salem, Massachusetts, he was active in the anti-slavery movement, aided freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad as a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, and served as a leading figure in the Womans' Suffrage Movement. BAL 20104.

Octavo (198 x 116mm). Buff endpapers. Original brown cloth, sides blind-stamped with a 5-rule frame, gilt-stamped spine (some minor rubbing); modern chemise and brown quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: William I. Bowditch, abolitionist and suffrage advocate, 1819-1909 (ownership inscription) – Katharine de B. Parsons (her sale, Parke-Bernet, 6 October 1976, lot 188 – Jane Engelhard, 1917-2004 (Christie's New York, her sale, 27 October 1995, lot 141).
Artist:Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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16.06.2023
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