Dorothy Q, Together with a Ballad of the Boston Tea Party & Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle

Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1893 Illustrated by Howard Pyle. Limited first edition, first state, with "flashed" to p. 50. One of 250 numbered copies, this being number 113. Inscribed by Holmes on front free endpaper with lines from "Dorothy Q": "Soft is the breath of a maiden's yes - / Not the light gossamer stirs with less; / But never a cable that holds so fast / Through all the battles of wave and blast, / and never an echo of speech or song / That lives in the babbling air so long! / pp. 22, 23 / Oliver Wendell Holmes / January 30th 1893." Publisher's full limp vellum designed by Sarah Wyman Whitman, lettered, decorated, and ruled in gilt, yapped edges, and top edge gilt. Near fine, with light soiling to vellum, lacking brown silk ties, some rubbing and toning to spine, gilt very bright on covers and top edge, bookplate of Francis Wilson (founding president of the Actors' Equity Association) to front pastedown, with Wilson's signature on front free endpaper, light soiling to a couple of pages, otherwise very clean and fresh internally. Overall, a fresh and beautifully bound copy. Housed in a custom tan slipcase. This collection of poetry includes three previously published works by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. "Dorothy Q" (1874), one of Holmes's best-known poems, is a portrait of his maternal grandmother, celebrating her life through short, rhyming verse interlaced with humor and statements of great affection. The other two poems draw inspiration from local history of the Boston area, where Holmes was born and lived most of his life. One of the Fireside Poets, Holmes stands in literary history with other American poets associated with New England, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, and John Greenleaf Whittier. Sarah Wyman Whitman (1842-1904) was a renowned book artist and one of the most important binding designers during the golden age of illustration and publishers' use of decorative trade bindings. Along with her contemporaries Margaret Armstrong (1867-1944) and Alice Cordelia Morse (1863-1961), Whitman is an example of how the Arts and Crafts and Aesthetic movements provided new opportunities for women's employment in the arts during the turn of the 20th century. Although often unsigned, Whitman's work is easily distinguishable through her use of restrained Art Nouveau aesthetic, preference of gilt over color stamping and ornamentation, favor of light-colored binding cloths, and use of sans-serif, high-waisted typography. This copy was owned by Francis Wilson (1854 - 1935), a popular American comedian and stage actor in the late 19th century. Around the turn of the century, he fought against the Theatrical Syndicate's control over theater bookings, and in 1913 he was selected as the founding president for the Actors' Equity Association, which still exists today. After retiring from the position in 1920 he was made president emeritus for life and was later buried with the epitaph "Here lies the man who tried to free the actor." . Inscribed by Author. Limited First Edition. Vellum. Near Fine. Illus. by Pyle, Howard.