Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Bryant, William Cullen. Poems. Printed by Hilliard and Metcalf, Boston, 1821.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: One of 750 copies. Edited (anonymously) by Richard Henry Dana, Sr. and Edward Tyrell Channing. Originally issued in printed boards. This copy rebound at an early date in full leather with a spine label that reads "Bryan'ts Poems." There is an old inscription in pencil on the front free endpaper, and an early signature (Charlotte Willard) on the first blank page. Scattered foxing and light staining to the pages. The Bryant book is bound with "The Steam-Boat" by the author of "Sir Andrew Wylie" apparently as filler so the thin 44-page "Poems" could be rebound in leather.
Seller: Wild Hills Books, Largo, FL, U.S.A.
Bryant, William Cullen. Poems. Cambridge: Hilliard and Metcalf, 1821.
Price: US$1800.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Octavo, original drab brown boards lettered in black; expertly rebacked. First edition of Bryant's third book (preceded by the first and second editions of "The Embargo"). One of 750 copies, the entire edition; the first book appearance of the widely anthologized "Thanatopsis." BAL 1587. A superior copy enclosed in a custom-made box.
Seller: North Star Rare Books & Manuscripts, Sheffield, MA, U.S.A.
Bryant, William Cullen.. Poems.. Cambridge: Hilliard and Metcalf, 1821, 1821.
Price: US$2100.00 + shipping
Description: Cambridge: Hilliard and Metcalf, 1821. First edition (BAL 1587). Recent half-leather, lettered and ruled in gilt, and contemporary paper boards, (1)-(3):6; 4:4, 44 pp., one of 750 copies printed. Edited (anonymously) by Richard Henry Dana, Sr. and Edward Tyrell Channing. This copy is presented by Channing: "Miss E. Buckminster with the sincere regards of Edward T. Channing." This is likely Eliza Buckminster, later Lee, the writer and translator ("Sketches of New England", "Walt and Vult, from the German of Jean Paul Richter"). Channing, originally from Newport, R.I., had been editor of the North American Review (1818-1819) and was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard (1819 to 1850), where he assigned themes to such notables at Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He was the brother of William Ellery Channing (the elder). Front board expertly re-attached, else Fine.
Seller: Up-Country Letters, Gardnerville, NV, U.S.A.
Bryant, William Cullen. Poems. Printed by Hilliard and Metcalf, Cambridge, 1821.
Price: US$2250.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. 44 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. PROBABLE PRESENTATION BINDING. "Bryants manuscript was edited anonymously for publication by [Richard Henry] Dana, [Sr.] and by E.T. Channing." (BAL p. 332). Among the eight poems which make their first collected appearances here are two of Bryant"s most famous, "Thanatopsis" (here first printed in its substantially revised form from its first publication in the North American Review in 1817, with the addition of 31 lines) and "To a Water Fowl." BAL 1587; SHAW AND SHOEMAKER, American Imprints 4861 Bound in contemporary mottled calf, gilt. Hinges have started, spine worn, laid in half brown morocco slipcase and chemise
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
William Cullen Bryant. Poems. Hilliard and Metcalf, 1821.
Price: US$2990.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. ***** First edition, first printing - one of a mere 750 copies. Original drab printed boards, uncut. Front cover printed askance. Small mark at the top of the front cover. Very light general wear. Light scattered foxing, but still quite internally clean. An otherworldly, unrepaired, Fine copy of a book not-oft found in boards and when it is, the spine is typically perished into oblivion. Chemised in custom red morocco gilt slipcase. Ex-libris Frederick W. Skiff and Estelle Doheny, legendary early 20th century book-collectors.*** Contains the first complete edition of Bryant's moving rhapsody on death, Thanatopsis, which is generally considered to be the first great poem written by an American: Thanatopsis, if not the best-known American poem abroad before the mid-19th century, certainly ranked near the top of the list, and at home school children were commonly required to recite it from memory. (Poetry Foundation) ***Please email us for better pricing
Seller: Anniroc Rare Books, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.