Description
Near fine dust jacket with illustration of Indian, a mylar dust jacket has been added. Near Fine binding is brown paper over boards, gilt lettering on spine. Black-and-white illustrations within by Frederic Remington. The binding is tight and pages are clean. The book measures 9.2″ tall x 6.3″ wide.
About the book (from the dust jacket)
In the summer of 1854, Longfellow wrote in his diary, “I have at length hit upon a plan for a poem on the American Indians, which seems to me the right one and the only: It is to weave together their beautiful traditions into a whole.” By the next spring, he had completed his famous classic, “The Song of Hiawatha.” This beautiful and lyric work would tell for all time the epic of the American Indian, his fight for survival and progress, in flowing melodic poetry.
No sooner was the poem published than its popularity was assured. The book had an unparalleled sale, and the letters which the poet received from Emerson, Hawthorne, and others showed the judgment passed upon his work by those whose poetic perception was not blunted by habits of professional criticism or taken captive by mere novelty:
The many illustrations for this unique edition were done by Frederic Remington, an artist already renowned for his drawings of things both western and Indian. The full-page photo-gravures were designed by Remington to serve directly as accompaniments to the poem, and he followed the poet’s lead in using a certain freedom of treatment, so that they correspond in spirit with the poet’s conception, although, they do not always depict the actual realities of Indian life as he knew it from his own observation. The pen-and-ink drawings which decorate the margin of the text, however, are faithful representations of a large number of actual objects in use among Indian tribes or associated with their life. His larger purpose was to make these a storehouse of information regarding Indian life in its varied details.
This is a facsimile reprint of the rare 1890 edition. Long out of print, and almost impossible to obtain, this edition is now made available by Bounty Books in a sturdy, handsome binding to preserve its contents.
