May 2020 Catalogue

G r e a t G i f t s 68 “For The Sweetest, Wisest Soul Of All My Days And Lands…” 64. WHITMAN, Walt. Drum-Taps. BOUNDWITH: Sequel to Drum-Taps. When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d. New York and Washington, 1865-6. 12mo, original blind- and gilt-stamped brown cloth; pp. (iv), 5-72, (3), 4-24, custom clamshell box. $8800. Click for More Info First edition, the important and preferred second issue, one of only 1000 copies, with the first appearance of the sequel celebrating Lincoln containing “Lilacs” and “O Captain! My Captain!” Drum-Taps “stands among the nation’s finest poems” (ANB). Upon the death of Lincoln, Whitman delayed the printing of Drum-Taps and added “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” a “profoundly moving dirge for the martyred Lincoln” (CHAL), with separate pagination, table of contents, and title page. Myerson A3.1a2. Owner signature of J.H.G. Rhoades of the 22nd Regiment. Expert repair to rear endpaper, interior generally quite nice, only slight rubbing to cloth. A near-fine copy. “When lilacs last in the door-yard bloomed And the great start early drooped in the western sky in the night, I mourned, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring…”