Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1839

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864), contributor. "The Lily's Quest." In: The Picturesque Pocket Companion, and Visitor's Guide, through Mount Auburn. Boston: Otis, Broaders and Company.

The Frank Maier copy of a rare title, in original boards, including the first publication in book form of Hawthorne's "The Lily's Quest." RBH last records this illustrated guide to the Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1979, and prior to that in 1924 when it came up in two sales the same year, Stephen Wakeman's and William Bunker's. In addition to the Hawthorne contribution, the poems and short pieces at the end of the volume include "The Old Man's Funeral" by William Cullen Bryant, "A Thought of Mount Auburn" by Miss M.A. Browne, "The Sheffield Cemetery" by Mrs. Hoffland, "The The Memory of an Infant" by Mrs. Hemans, and "I See Thee Still" by Charles Sprague. "The Lily's Quest" would be collected in Twice-Told Tales (1842). BAL 7588, Clark C11.

Small octavo (155 x 98mm). Frontispiece, numerous in-text illustrations. (Some spotting internally, faint dampstain to upper corner or most leaves.) Original pictorial paper-covered boards, leather gilt-stamped spine (some rubbing). Provenance: Frank Maier (bookplate, his sale, 16 & 17 November 1909, lot 766).