1863 Fascinating Copy of The Atlantic Monthly Featuring Important Publications by Ralph Waldo Emerson and About Jane Austen / No 64 Feb 1863

Here is a fascinating historical edition of The Atlantic Monthly from February 1863. Featuring one of the very first printings of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Boston Hymn, plus an early appreciation of the writings of Jane Austen by Mrs Waterson - very interesting for Austen collectors and scholars from this early date and before her fame really took off.

Emerson composed the poem Boston Hymn in late 1862 and read it publicly in Boston Music Hall on January 1, 1863. It commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation issued earlier that day by President Abraham Lincoln, tying it and the broader campaign for the abolition of slavery to the Puritan notion of sacred destiny for America. On January 1, a crowd of 3,000 gathered at Boston Music Hall for the concert. By Emerson's request his name was not in the program, and his participation in the event was a surprise to the audience. Contemporary accounts indicate that his reading was well received. Emerson read the poem again that day at a private gathering at the home of George Luther Stearns in Medford, Massachusetts. Other guests included Wendell Phillips, Amos Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, and Julia Ward Howe, who read her Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Boston Hymn was first published in the January 24, 1863, issue of Dwight's eponymous Dwight's Journal of Music. It was reprinted in the following month's edition of The Atlantic. (The edition for sale here) It also appeared in the later 1867 Emerson anthology May-Day and Other Pieces. The poem became famous immediately and was adopted as an anthem by the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, an all-black regiment of the Union Army.

Also in this edition is an early appreciation of the works of Jane Austen by Mrs RC Waterson. Austen collectors and scholars will find this an important early admiration for the author and an analysis of how she was viewed at the time by authors such as Walter Scott and Charlotte Bronte amongst others.

Amongst the articles in this particular edition is also a biography of the poet Shelley.

The copy is in good condition, and indeed several of the pages have been left uncut/unopened. There are some folds to a few of the corners, and alongside each article somebody has rather helpfully pencilled the author's name which interestingly was not put in originally by the publisher! The paper cover is clean and bright, with some small nicks and tears around the outside edges. Has a small split at the top of the front spine joint, and a slightly larger one to the bottom rear spine joint.

Your antique copy of this fascinating edition of The Atlantic Monthly will be wrapped with great care in tissue and ribbon* and sent well packaged. I am always happy to add a gift card with a message if desired.

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