May-Day and Other Pieces.
"All things return, both sphere and mote, and I shall hear my bluebird's note, and dream the dream of Auburn dell": First Edition, first issue of Ralph Waldo Emerson's May-Day and Other Pieces; Signed by him
May-Day and Other Pieces.
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
$7,200.00
Item Number: 96771
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
First edition, first issue of this collection of Emerson’s later poems. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and botanical emblem to the front panel, top edge gilt. Signed by Emerson on the title page, “R.W. Emerson.” In very good condition with rubbing to the crown of the spine and minor chipping to the front free endpaper. Rare and desirable.
American essayist, lecturer, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote on a number of subjects, disseminating the tenets of transcendentalism through dozens of published essays and more than 1500 public lectures. In addition to his many important contributions to literature including 'Walden' and 'Nature', he was instrumental in facilitating the publication of Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' in 1855 and, in 1862, delivered his best friend and protege, Henry David Thoreau's eulogy. Published when Emerson's health was beginning to decline, May-Day and other Stories includes poems inspired by Emerson's 1858 venture into the wilderness of the Adirondacks to connect with nature among others.
