The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier [with] Life and Letters of... (Artist's Edition in 9 vols.)

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press, 1894. First edition. Fine. Number 440 of 750 sets. Bound by the Riverside Press in full crushed olive morocco, spines uniformly faded. Top edges gilt. Raised bands and gilt floral patterns in the spine compartments and corners. Full inner red morocco doublures (with gilt decorations) red silk end papers. Bound with an autograph letter from Whittier tipped into the first volume. Each volume with two frontispieces, one in color. A lavish production overall. Illustrated throughout with plates, portraits and photogravures by Howard Pyle, Frank T. Merrill, Frederic Remington and F.O.A.C. Darley, among others. A Fine set.

In the long struggle to abolish slavery, John Greenleaf Whittier became one of the most influential voices. "A highly regarded poet of the 19th century, he was enshrined in the pantheon of 'Schoolroom Poets' along with William Cullen Bryant, Ralph Waldo Emerson...and Oliver Wendell Holmes" (Poetry Foundation). His Quaker belief in tolerance and his friendship with activist William Lloyd Garrison combined to make both the poet and his poetry fiercely abolitionist. And indeed, in seeing the appeal of Whittier's poetry, Garrison enlisted his friend to publish on the cause's behalf and shift the tides in New England, where the abolitionist position was still unpopular. Here in a lovely binding, beautifully illustrated, are a selection of the works which made Whittier such an influential voice in his own time. Fine.