Herman Melville's copy

SWINBURNE, Algernon Charles (1837-1909). Laus Veneris, and Other Poems and Ballads. New York: Carleton, Publisher, 1866.

A gift to Melville from R.H. Stoddard, fellow poet and Customs House employee. A clipped inscription is tipped to the first blank: “Herman Melville, With the best wishes of R.H. Stoddard,” and annotated in pencil “29th Jan. 1867” in Melville’s hand. Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903) was a poet and critic who worked at the Custom-House with Melville—later in his Recollections, in a chapter titled "My Life in the Custom-House," Stoddard would recollect Melville's arrival there: "I bowed to the gentleman who handed the note to me, in whom I recognised a famous writer whom I had met some twenty-five years before; no American writer was more widely known in the late forties and earlier fifties...". Stoddard was also the author of several (and not always favorable) published articles on Melville. Sealts 492a, Sealts "Melville and Richard Henry Stoddard" (American Literature, Nov 1971).

Octavo. (Light offsetting from a catalogue description tipped to page facing inscription.) Original rust cloth (a little soiling, chipping to spine ends and wear at tips, front hinge cracked). Custom chemise and slipcase.