Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright - photo 1
Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright - photo 2
Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright - photo 3

Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright

Sold
$ 12 600
Auction dateClassic
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967575
Lot 100 | Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright
Tanglewood Tales, inscribed to Bright

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1853

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864). Tanglewood Tales, for Girls and Boys; being a Second Wonder-Book. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1853.



A presentation copy of the first American edition, first printing, inscribed by Hawthorne: "Mr H.A. Bright with the author's regards." Inscribed copies are rare at auction: only two others are recorded in RBH, with the most recent in 1974.



Hawthorne's presentation to Bright speaks to a new friendship that would grow and become of great consequence to both men (see the letters to Bright later in the sale). Bright was introduced to Hawthorne in Concord in 1852 and when the Hawthornes moved to Liverpool in 1853 Bright took him around the city, introduced him to people; and subsequently traveled with him through England. Bright was, Sophia Hawthorne stated, “a slender, diaphanous young gentleman, of a nervous temperament” (Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Memories of Hawthorne, 242). The two men took particular pleasure in arguing with one another, the Brit versus the Yankee, John Bull versus Brother Jonathan. Sophia noted, “They fight in all love and honor all the time” (Edwin Haviland Miller, Salem is My Dwelling Place, 420). Hawthorne wrote appreciatively in “Consular Experiences,” “Bright was the illumination of my dusky little apartment, as often as he made his appearance there!” (CE 5:39).



During Christmas 1855, Bright wrote a poem titled “Song of Consul Hawthorne,” with the meter of Longfellow’s “Hiawatha,” affectionately mocking the Consul’s private nature. He insightfully wrote of Hawthorne, “Thinks one friend worth twenty friendly.” Hawthorne’s son Julian later reported, “This little jeu d’esprit pleased Hawthorne much” (Julian Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife, 2:79-80). Returning to the United States in 1860, Hawthorne left the manuscript of his novel The Marble Faun with Bright and, back in Concord, predicted the success of Bright’s marriage—“No woman can have won a truer, kinder, happier-natured man” (CE 18:354). Bright wrote to Hawthorne, “It is one of the best things in my life to have made a friend of you” (Miller, 420).



Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who had written a letter of introduction for Bright in 1852, responded to Bright after Hawthorne’s death in 1864, “I am glad to know how deeply you feel this loss; for I know, having heard it from his own lips, that he liked you more than any man in England” (Julian Hawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife, 2:350). This presentation copy of Tanglewood Tales from Hawthorne to Bright richly represents the strong friendship between the two men. BAL 7614 (first printing, with only Boston Stereotype Foundry on the copyright page); Clark A22.2a.



Octavo (166 x 105mm). Engraved vignette title-page and six plates (no adverts present). Original blue cloth, gilt-stamped spine and blind-stamped covers (spine ends a little rubbed, cloth a little soiled); modern quarter morocco box. Provenance: Henry A. Bright (authorial inscription and bookplate).

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
15.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

More from Creator

Mosses from an old Manse, inscribed by Sophia Hawthorne
Mosses from an old Manse, inscribed by Sophia Hawthorne
$3 000
Mudie’s Natural History of Birds
Mudie’s Natural History of Birds
$100
True Stories from History and Biography, The Snow-Image, and A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys
True Stories from History and Biography, The Snow-Image, and A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys
$100
On Franklin Pierce and his new office as U.S. Consul
On Franklin Pierce and his new office as U.S. Consul
$1 000
Inchiquin, 1810
Inchiquin, 1810
$100
Thanking his friend for his financial support
Thanking his friend for his financial support
$5 000
Tanglewood Tales
Tanglewood Tales
$100
The Marble Faun, inscribed by Pierce
The Marble Faun, inscribed by Pierce
$2 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.