The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy - photo 1
The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy - photo 2
The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy - photo 3
The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy - photo 4

The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy

Lot 45
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 20 160
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967552
Lot 45 | The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy
Estimate value
$ 12 000 – 18 000
The Song of Hiawatha, presentation copy

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1855

LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882). The Song of Hiawatha. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855.



By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

by the shining Big-Sea-Water,

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest …



Presentation copy of the first American edition, first printing, of Longfellow's great epic, inscribed to fellow poet Mary Horsford, with a rare autograph quote containing a stanza of the poem. Horsford, who died in the same month this book was inscribed to her ("Mrs Horsford with the regards of the Author, November 1855"), had just published her own verse treatment of Native Americans entitled Indian Legends and Other Poems. This lot also includes a letter by Longfellow containing a quote from the poem. Although Longfellow was generous when it came to producing fair copies of his work for his admirers, he rarely chose to quote from "Hiawatha;" RBH records only four examples sold at auction in the past fifty years.



Longfellow referred to this, his most iconic work, as his "Indian Edda," influenced by European epic cycles like the Kalevala as well as by the work of ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft and the author's friendship with the Ojibwa writer George Copway (who would name his daughter after Longfellow's famous heroine, Minnehaha). Although the title hero shares a name with the historic founder of the Iroquois league, Longfellow's characters and plots are all mythic. The poem is written in trochaic tetrameter—the same meter as the Kalevala and erroneously thought at the time by Schoolcraft to be a natural meter for Ojibwe languages. It was named by the Grolier Club the most influential book of 1855, inspiring everything from symphonies to silent films and cementing the image of the Native American as an almost fairy-tale figure in the imaginations of readers worldwide. BAL 12112; Grolier American 66.



Octavo (178 x 111mm). 12 pp. ad catalogue at end dated November 1855 (gathering 9 sprung). Original brown blindstamped cloth with title gilt on spine (caps damaged, boards worn); modern half morocco box. Provenance: Mary Gardiner Horsford, 1824-1855 (presentation inscription from the author).



[With:] LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth. Autograph quotation signed ("Henry W. Longfellow"), fair copy of one stanza from "Hiawatha," Cambridge, 3 November 1881. [Written above an:] Autograph Letter Signed ("Henry W. Longfellow") to Edward W. Bok, Cambridge, 3 November 1881. One page, 222 x 176mm (some dustsoiling and toning, losses at corners not affecting text, horizontal crease somewhat weak).

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

The original manuscript for "On the Avon"
The original manuscript for "On the Avon"
$5 000
The Courtship of Miles Standish, presentation copy
The Courtship of Miles Standish, presentation copy
$3 000
From my Arm-chair, signed
From my Arm-chair, signed
$1 000
The Hanging of the Crane
The Hanging of the Crane
$1 000
Hiawatha and The Courtship of Miles Standish, first English editions
Hiawatha and The Courtship of Miles Standish, first English editions
$1 000
A full transcript of "A Psalm of Life"
A full transcript of "A Psalm of Life"
$1 000
Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie
Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie
$4 000
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
£100

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.
?>