Beschreibung:

The Property of a GentlemanLONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTHAutograph letter signed ("H. W. Longfellow"), to James T. Fields, 1860, regarding "Paul Revere's Ride," the poem credited with creating a national legend AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("H. W. LONGFELLOW"), TO JAMES T. FIELDS, 1860, REGARDING "PAUL REVERE'S RIDE," THE POEM CREDITED WITH CREATING A NATIONAL LEGEND Autograph letter signed ("H. W. Longfellow"), 3 pages on bifolium (6 1/8 x 4 in.; 155 x 102 mm), Cambridge, Mass., 23 November 1860, to James T. Fields; horizontal folds. [With:] Tales of a Wayside Inn. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1863. 8vo (7 x 4 1/2 in.; 178 x 115 mm). Additional illustrated title, 22-page publisher's catalogue dated November 1863; initial blank and attitional title with light dampstaining at fore-edge. Publisher's brown blindstamped cloth, spine lettered in copper-gilt, top edges gilt, brown-coated endpapers; some wear and fraying at spine ends. Half brown morocco gilt slipcase and chemise; some scuffing. First edition, with a letter from Longfellow to his publisher, James T. Fields, correcting a mistake in the printing of "Paul Revere's Ride". Fields was somewhat of an amateur poet himself, and thought that the final line could be improved. "Paul Revere's Ride" appeared in the January 1861 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, of which Fields was part owner. Several lines were omitted by mistake. The error was corrected when the poem appeared in the 1863 collection, present here. When Paul Revere died in 1818, he was very much remembered for his business acumen and industriousness, rather than his midnight ride. The fame that Longfellow's poem brought to Revere came after the Civil War, and linked to the Colonial Revival Movement of the 1870s. It wasn't until 1878, for example, that the Old North Church posted a plaque noting it as the site of "the signal lanterns of Paul Revere " this acknowledging his standing as a historical figure. REFERENCE:BAL 12136