WILSON, ALEXANDER. Poems. Paisley: J. Neilson for the author 1790, 8vo, old quarter calf, hinges repaired, browned and spotted throughout, frontispiece offset on title, quarter morocco slipcase , FIRST EDITION, containing 70 poems engraved frontispiece (with later handcoloring) after J. Eliot; Poems chiefly in the Scottish dialect...with an account of his life and writings [by Thomas Crichton], London: Longman, etc., 1816, small 8vo, original boards uncut, backstrip cracked and worn, corners bruised, cloth slipcase , Third Edition (following the 1790 Paisley and 1791 Edinburgh editions; a variant issue with a slightly different title and London imprint ( the other has a Paisley imprint), containing 56 poems and including seven concerning birds ("The American Blue Bird", "The Pewit's Retreat", "The Humming Bird", "The Baltimore Bird", "The Bald Eagle", "The Tyrant Fly-catcher, or King-Bird", and "Morning"); The Foresters: a poem descriptive of a pedestrian journey to the Falls of Niagara, in the autumn of 1804. By the author of American Ornithology, Newtown (Penn.), Published by S. Siegfried & J. Wilson, June....1818, 2 copies, 12mo, contemporary sheep, rebacked , First Edition in book form (first published at Philadelphia in The Portfolio , series 3, vols. 1-3, June 1809 - March 1810), June issue, one copy a presentation from the printer inscribed on half-title "Miss Sharpless from her friend C. Miner" and without copyright notice, the second copy with a copyright notice pasted on verso of title; The Foresters: a poem, Newtown (Penn.) etc. July....1818, 2 copies, 12mo, one in original printed boards, back worn, boards rubbed, the second in contemporary sheep, rebacked , First Edition in book form, July issue, copyright notice printed on verso of title leaf, half-title in each of the 4 vols. which are together in a half morocco box case . C.R. Johnson, Provincial Poetry 1789-1839 (Otley, U.K. 1992), nos. 974 ( Poems , Paisley 1790); 976 ( Poems , London 1816). Sabin 104599 ( The Foresters ). (6) "Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), weaver, travelling merchant and American ornithologist. He began life as a weaver but had a strong desire for learning. He met and corresponded with Burns and his poem Watty and Meg , which appeared anonymously in 1792, was at first attributed to Burns. A little later, he wrote a piece of severe personal satire against an individual in Paisley which was ordered to be burnt in public, and he was imprisoned. After his release he left for the American colonies [sic!]. In America he began to develop his interest in ornithology and worked as a printer, pedlar and school-teacher." --- Johnson. Provenance The Foresters , June issue, one copy: C. Miner and Miss Sharpless, inscribed as above The Foresters , July issue, boards uncut: Colonel John Eliot Thayer (1862-1933), bookplate Dr. Evan Morton Evans (1870-1955) Daniel Webster Evans (1907-1966) $1,500-2,000
WILSON, ALEXANDER. Poems. Paisley: J. Neilson for the author 1790, 8vo, old quarter calf, hinges repaired, browned and spotted throughout, frontispiece offset on title, quarter morocco slipcase , FIRST EDITION, containing 70 poems engraved frontispiece (with later handcoloring) after J. Eliot; Poems chiefly in the Scottish dialect...with an account of his life and writings [by Thomas Crichton], London: Longman, etc., 1816, small 8vo, original boards uncut, backstrip cracked and worn, corners bruised, cloth slipcase , Third Edition (following the 1790 Paisley and 1791 Edinburgh editions; a variant issue with a slightly different title and London imprint ( the other has a Paisley imprint), containing 56 poems and including seven concerning birds ("The American Blue Bird", "The Pewit's Retreat", "The Humming Bird", "The Baltimore Bird", "The Bald Eagle", "The Tyrant Fly-catcher, or King-Bird", and "Morning"); The Foresters: a poem descriptive of a pedestrian journey to the Falls of Niagara, in the autumn of 1804. By the author of American Ornithology, Newtown (Penn.), Published by S. Siegfried & J. Wilson, June....1818, 2 copies, 12mo, contemporary sheep, rebacked , First Edition in book form (first published at Philadelphia in The Portfolio , series 3, vols. 1-3, June 1809 - March 1810), June issue, one copy a presentation from the printer inscribed on half-title "Miss Sharpless from her friend C. Miner" and without copyright notice, the second copy with a copyright notice pasted on verso of title; The Foresters: a poem, Newtown (Penn.) etc. July....1818, 2 copies, 12mo, one in original printed boards, back worn, boards rubbed, the second in contemporary sheep, rebacked , First Edition in book form, July issue, copyright notice printed on verso of title leaf, half-title in each of the 4 vols. which are together in a half morocco box case . C.R. Johnson, Provincial Poetry 1789-1839 (Otley, U.K. 1992), nos. 974 ( Poems , Paisley 1790); 976 ( Poems , London 1816). Sabin 104599 ( The Foresters ). (6) "Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), weaver, travelling merchant and American ornithologist. He began life as a weaver but had a strong desire for learning. He met and corresponded with Burns and his poem Watty and Meg , which appeared anonymously in 1792, was at first attributed to Burns. A little later, he wrote a piece of severe personal satire against an individual in Paisley which was ordered to be burnt in public, and he was imprisoned. After his release he left for the American colonies [sic!]. In America he began to develop his interest in ornithology and worked as a printer, pedlar and school-teacher." --- Johnson. Provenance The Foresters , June issue, one copy: C. Miner and Miss Sharpless, inscribed as above The Foresters , July issue, boards uncut: Colonel John Eliot Thayer (1862-1933), bookplate Dr. Evan Morton Evans (1870-1955) Daniel Webster Evans (1907-1966) $1,500-2,000
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