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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 20 January 1876.
Details
The original manuscript for "On the Avon"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 20 January 1876.
LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882). Autograph manuscript, "To the Avon," [n.p.,] 20 January 1876.
In pencil. Two pages, 233 x 178 mm (toned from previous framing at margins).
An original manuscript of Longfellow's tribute to Shakespeare, headed by the author at upper right corner of first page "Avon, the River," and dated by him at end "Jan. 20, 1876." The manuscript consists of five 4-line stanzas, commencing: "Flow on, sweet river! like his verse / Who lies beneath this marble hearse; / Nor wait beside the churchyard wall / For him, who cannot hear thy call." A pencilled inscription at bottom of the verso: "Sent to me by Rev. S. Longfellow [younger brother of the poet], as specimen of H. W. Longfellow's later MSS., which were all written for the printers in pencil, E.P. Sept. 13, [18]86." The poem was not published in Longfellow's lifetime, but appeared in a posthumous volume, In the Harbor (1882), which featured Longfellow's then unprinted work. Provenance: Sotheby's, 22 July 1974, lot 480 – Sotheby's, 18 December 1985, lot 97 – Christie's New York, 7 June 1990, lot 80.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 20 January 1876.
LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882). Autograph manuscript, "To the Avon," [n.p.,] 20 January 1876.
In pencil. Two pages, 233 x 178 mm (toned from previous framing at margins).
An original manuscript of Longfellow's tribute to Shakespeare, headed by the author at upper right corner of first page "Avon, the River," and dated by him at end "Jan. 20, 1876." The manuscript consists of five 4-line stanzas, commencing: "Flow on, sweet river! like his verse / Who lies beneath this marble hearse; / Nor wait beside the churchyard wall / For him, who cannot hear thy call." A pencilled inscription at bottom of the verso: "Sent to me by Rev. S. Longfellow [younger brother of the poet], as specimen of H. W. Longfellow's later MSS., which were all written for the printers in pencil, E.P. Sept. 13, [18]86." The poem was not published in Longfellow's lifetime, but appeared in a posthumous volume, In the Harbor (1882), which featured Longfellow's then unprinted work. Provenance: Sotheby's, 22 July 1974, lot 480 – Sotheby's, 18 December 1985, lot 97 – Christie's New York, 7 June 1990, lot 80.
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Heather Weintraub
Specialist, Books, Manuscripts, & Archives