The Muse; or, Flowers of Poetry; a Choice Collection of Favorite Odes, Poems, Songs, Elegies, Dirges, Epitaphs, Epigrams, Elegant Extracts, &c.
Cornish, Maine: Published and Sold by the Author, 1827. First edition. 12mo (gathered in nines), contemporary full calf, dark blue morocco label, gilt lettering, 216 pages. Thin slice from the calf of the upper board; some general rubbing and some browning; a good to very good copy of a pleasantly crude little book in a moderately odd format. (How often does one see gathering M for the prelims preceded the subsequent gathering B?). Item #19587
A pleasantly crudely-made anthology, largely of English poems, though Key's "Star-Spangled Banner" does make an early appearance here. Even the poems on patriotic and peculiarly American reform themes--the visit of Lafayette to America, the sale of a negro boy, an American Indian speaking to a slave before a planned massacre of the slave owners--seem not only to hail from English sources but to have strange textual variants or errors introduced into their texts. With the printer's slug for John Adams, Jr. of Portland on the verso of the title page. Somewhat later ink ownership inscription to the paste-down and a 1914 pencil inscription below that. Free endpapers excised. American Imprints 28543.
Price: $300.00