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Lot 365
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H. W. Longfellow Goes to Harvard, Via Europe
H. W. Longfellow Goes to Harvard, Via Europe
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Description:

H. W. Longfellow Goes to Harvard, Via Europe

"Is not Venice like what we see in dreams?"

Writing from Bowdoin College, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes to fellow Bowdoin graduate and likely former student William Wood Jr., who was studying medicine in Paris, France. Longfellow informs Wood of his imminent departure from Bowdoin for Europe. Longfellow had accepted a position as Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard University, but Harvard President Josiah Quincy III insisted that he spend another year or so abroad.

Sadly, on his trip abroad, Longfellow's first wife had a miscarriage in October 1835 and died a month later. He had her body embalmed and placed in a lead coffin, inside an oak coffin, and shipped to Boston for burial. He returned to the United States in 1836 and began his professorship at Harvard, where he lived in a home that had served as the headquarters for General George Washington during the siege of Boston in 1775 and 1776.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, Autograph Letter Signed, to William Wood, February 27, 1835, Brunswick, Maine. 4 pp., 7.75" x 9.75". Expected folds; some small edge tears; hole in third page from removal of original wax seal on opening, affecting three lines; most of wax seal still present; very good.

Excerpts
"Had you not forgotten to mention yr address, I should have sent you an immediate answer. But I know too well the folly of writing without it. Yr second letter Decr 26, which I have just received, enables me to send you a friendly greeting across the sea, and I lose no time in doing so."

"Yr visit to Italy must have delighted you greatly. I know it did. Is not Venice like what we see in dreams?"

"Next week I dissolve my connexion with Bowdoin College, and leave the 'whispering pines' for the trees of another soil. I am to take Mr. Ticknor's place in Cambridge. But before entering upon the duties of my new place of abode, I am going to make another 'pilgrimage beyond the sea.' I expect to sail from New York to London on the 1st of April; and after a few days' sojourn there proceed to Stockholm, where I shall pass the summer. The succeeding winter I shall pass in Berlin and the second summer in Denmark. My wife goes with me; and I look forward to a foreign residence of a year or two with feelings bordering on enthusiasm. May I not hope to meet you in London? I presume I shall; as you will not certainly return home without visiting that great mart and metropolis of the world."

"Here you have an answer to yr question in regard to Regnault's dear books. As I mean to visit Parisi, I will give you no further trouble about the matter. You need not purchase the books, tho' if you have already closed the bargain, well and good. If not, let matters stand as they are. If Regnault wants pay for his trouble, tell that I shall be there before long, and perhaps purchase largely. If he is importune, why, pay him, and I will arrange matters when we meet."

"Farewell. My wife joins me in kind regards and good wishes. Very truly your friend
"Henry W. Longfellow"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was born in Portland, Maine, and graduated in 1825 from Bowdoin College, which had been founded by his grandfather in 1794. He published his first poem in 1820 and published forty minor poems while a student at Bowdoin. He also became fluent in Latin. He became a professor of modern languages at Bowdoin and toured Europe from 1826 to 1829. While there, he learned French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, mostly without formal tutoring. He returned to teaching at Bowdoin and married Mary Storer Potter in 1831. In December 1834, he was offered a position at Harvard College with the stipulation that he study for another year abroad. While studying in Europe, he learned more German as well as Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Icelandic. In November 1835, his wife died after suffering a miscarriage. He returned to the United States in 1836 and began teaching at Harvard. He began publishing poetry in 1839 and is most remembered for his poems "Paul Revere's Ride" (1860), "The Song of Hiawatha" (1855), "The Courtship of Miles Standish" (1858), and "Evangeline" (1847). He published the collection Poems on Slavery in 1842 as his first support of abolitionism. After a seven-year courtship, Frances "Fanny" Appleton agreed to marry him. They had six children between 1844 and 1855. Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on writing. In 1861, Fanny Longfellow died after a candle caught her dress on fire. Longfellow was devastated and spent several years on the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, which he published in 1867. In 1863, he wrote the poem "Christmas Bells," which became the basis for the later Christmas carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. He spent the last few years of his life translating the poetry of Michelangelo, which was published posthumously in 1883.

William Wood Jr. (1810-1899) was born in Scarborough, Maine, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1829. He received a medical degree from the Medical School of Maine. He traveled to Paris, France in 1833 and remained there as a medical student for two and a half years. He sailed home in the winter of 1836 and became a leading physician in Portland, Maine. He was one of the founders of the Natural History Society in Maine in 1843 and served as its president from 1852 until his death. He was particularly interested in the natural sciences, especially botany, marine life, and mineralogy.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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