THE SONG OF HIAWATHA (1st ed, SIGNED) by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth - 1855

Boston: Ticknor & Field. 1855. 1st edition.. Hardcover.. FAIR-GOOD (worn) book. Tight text block. VG text. TP crisply SIGNED "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1855". Embossed brown cloth. . 7.5"x4.5", 316,(4),12pp. Worn, spine cock. Spine gilt faded. Rear inner hinge paper cracked, hinge still sound. STILL a tight text block. No loose pages. No type bleed through, but an occassional foxed spot. No stains or marginalia. Collated complete through last ad page, the book's last page. SO MISSING last blank eps. BAL 12112 with 1st state point; 'Cooed the Omemee'. BUT all other BAL points show this a 2nd printing. Title page SIGNED 'Henry W Longfellow 1855'. Pencilled note inside cover reads: "Mr Longfellow give my father this book when he spent the night in our house. 1855 [signed] Mary Fitch". Bkplt on facing page: "F.E. Fitch LIBRARY". Books signed by HWL with his full name are unusual. He more often signed his books ".. compliments of the author". The full signature seems to confirm a personal connection with the Fitch's. But HWL was appreciative of the esteem in which he was held and there is no known connection between HWL and these Fitchs. Nicholas Basbanes' "Cross of Snow" mentions no Fitch, or any travelling HWL did in Dec. of 1855. Furthur, Longfellow House doubts he'd travelled then as his wife had just had a baby. The Fitchs could have been HWL admirers who just indulged in a bit of wishful thinking. Be that as what it may, a HWL book with his full signature is uncommon. More common is the aforementioned "... complimants of the Author", or with a tipped in signed slip. .