THE TENT ON THE BEACH And Other Poems with an AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS) and an AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED (AQS)
Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. First Edition. Hardcover. Publisher's brick cloth. BAL 21866: Binding B; mostly B points in text. Likely the Second Printing, as usual. Pasted to the front endpaper is an envelope containing a three-page handwritten letter on three sides of a 10" x 8" sheet of paper folded into fours SIGNED by Whittier with his initials and dated 1867, regarding the "The Palatine," a poem which appears on page 90 of the book, giving background to the legend of "The Palatine Light," an apparition reported near Block Island said to be the ghost ship of a lost 18th-century vessel named the Palatine. The folklore account is based on the historical wreck of the Princess Augusta in 1738, which became known as the Palatine in 19th-century accounts. Whittier immortalized the legend in this, one of his best-known poems, based on a tale the poet heard in 1865 from Newport resident Joseph P. Hazard, whose family were key informants for collectors of 19th-century New England folklore. Also tipped in opposite the page where it appears is a MANUSCRIPT stanza from Whittier's poem "The Eternal Goodness," SIGNED in full: "I know not where His islands lift/Their fronded palms in air;/I only know I cannot drift/Beyond His love and care." The Stephen H. Wakeman copy with his bookplate on the front pastedown and auction description pasted to the bottom of the front pastedown. Letter has creases from mailing, the ink a bit faded; stain over a few letters of the quote and the facing page; light wear to spine tips. At least Very Good with interesting additions and a superb provenance. Item #021026
Price: $1,500.00