Letters to Various Persons

Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865 Edited by Ralph Waldo Emerson. First edition, first printing, in Blanck's "A" binding. One of 2,130 copies. Publisher's brown cloth, with wreath illustrations stamped in blind, spine lettered in gilt, and brown coated endpapers. Near fine, with light toning to spine and bottom margin of front board, light wear to spine ends, some ink staining to verso of front free endpaper, and text outlined in ink on pp. 74-77. Overall, a sturdy and attractive copy. BAL 20116. Letters to Various Persons is Thoreau's sixth book and the fourth to be published posthumously. Specifically, it is a collection of Thoreau's letters to his friends, written from 1840-1862. As Emerson notes in his preface, "Nearly all the letters have been printed directly from the original autographs furnished by the persons to whom they were addressed" and clarifies that "the letters have been printed as they stood, with very few verbal corrections." Additionally, Letters contains nine poems, including "Sympathy," "Mountains," "Smoke," "Smoke in Winter," and "Haze," among others. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine.