"IF I AM NOT WORTH THE WOOING I SURELY AM NOT WORTH THE WINNING"

LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth. The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1858. Octavo, publisher's brown cloth gilt. $1250.

First American edition, first printing, published same year as the London first edition.

Longfellow's "popularity throughout the U.S. and Europe was so great that, on the publication of The Courtship, more than 15,000 copies were sold during the first day in Boston and London… [Longfellow]… did much to popularize American folk themes abroad, where his work wasimmensely popular and widely translated. In his own time he was universally respected" (Hart, p. 444). Included are "Prometheus," "The Phantom Ship," "Haunted Houses," "My Lost Youth," and "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport." With publisher's catalogue dated October, 1858 at rear. BAL 12122. Evidence of previous tipped-in material on front free endpaper.

Faint marginal dampstaining to interior, not touching text, cloth with a bit of wear to spine ends and corners, gilt quite bright. A handsome copy.