AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS)
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo
Concord: 27 Feb. 1864. A 2-page letter on both sides of a 4-7/8" x 6-3/4" sheet of paper addressed "Dear Sir" to Abijah Metcalf Ide about a borrowed book. In full: "I have just received from Mr. Watson the volume belonging to the Athenaeum which I had lent him. I am sorry that I do not find at home my own copy of the 'Last words on Homer' which is the sequel to this. In due time it will doubtless come. You can keep this book several weeks without objection. You shall return it to me care of Ticknor & Fields, say, in six weeks. But Mr. [?] might also read it." SIGNED as "R. W. Emerson." This letter, along with the others we are offering, was the subject of a 1991 article by Melanie Bauer in RESOURCES FOR AMERICAN LITERARY STUDY titled "Emerson's Acquaintance with Abijah Metcalf Ide, Jr.: Six Unpublished Letters" [RALS17 (1991): 258-262]. The book Emerson mentions is not listed in Harding's EMERSON'S LIBRARY. With the original envelope addressed by Emerson with the stamps removed affecting the postmark. Normal creases from mailing; trace of mounting on verso. Fine (Item ID: 011975)
$1,250.00