ID 967429
Lot 232 | The Embargo; or, Sketches of the Times, with ALS
Estimate value
$ 1 000 – 2 000
Groves copy of the first published collection of Bryant’s poems, including the second printing of “The Embargo”—in original wrappers, with a bibliographically important letter laid in. The title poem, written when Bryant was only 13, is a satire protesting Jefferson's 1807 Embargo Act. It had been published anonymously the previous year, and for good reason—it is particularly vitriolic against Jefferson himself, calling him a befuddled pseudo-scientist and coward, and mocking his sexual liaisons with his enslaved workers. A later autograph note included here confirms when the poem was written: "I completed a political satire when I was thirteen, entitled "The Embargo" which was printed full by itself in a little pamphlet." According to BAL, some copies are known in a printed self-wrapper. BAL 1583; Sabin 8815.
Octavo (186 x 113mm). 36pp. Contemporary slate-blue wrapper (backstrip perished with chips around the edges, some neat repairs); modern chemise and morocco pull-off box. Provenance: John Stuart Groves, 1881-1958 (morocco book label).
[With:] Autograph letter signed ("W.C. Bryant") to W.B. Redfield, 26 February 1855. One page, on blue paper.
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