Poems.
“A bird in hand is a certainty. But a bird in the bush may sing": First edition, first issue of Bret Harte's Poems
Poems.
HARTE, Bret.
$250.00
Item Number: 137304
Boston: Fields, Osgood, & Co, 1871.
First edition, first issue with the publisher’s monogram on title-page and foot of spine, and the error “S.T.K.” for “T.S.K.” in the caption on page 136. BAL 7253. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine, brown endpapers. In very good condition with a closed tear to the crown of the spine. Bookplates. Housed in a custom half morocco and folding chemise case.
American author and poet Bret Harte is best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted, and admired.