Six Books By Longfellow, Some First Editions 1849 - 1882. The Longfellow books in this lot consist of Kavanagh, A Tale, a first edition, third issue published in Boston in 1849 by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields; The New England Tragedies, a first edition published in Boston in 1868 by Ticknor and Fields; The Divine Tragedy, a first edition published in Boston in 1871 by James R. Osgood; Three Books of Song, as first edition published in Boston in 1872 by James R. Osgood; Aftermath, a first edition published in Boston in 1873 by James R. Osgood; and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Biographical Sketch, by Francis H. Underwood, published in 1882 by James R. Osgood and Company. Kavanagh, A Tale is a country romance published in 1849 and the title page and copyright pages are both dated 1849, which makes this a first edition because the dates match on the two pages and there are no additional printings, but it only has two of the four points of issue required to be a first edition first issue: it has "Cartwright's" on line 12 of page 25 and "Arian" on line 14 of page 98, which are both first printing points of issue, but it has "the" instead of "hte" on line 11 of page 177, which means this is not a first edition first issue, but a later one, and according to McBride, it's supposed to have "1849" in the spine to be a first issue, and it doesn't; it also has "would" instead of "wonld" on page 172 and a four-page ad for a List of Books Recently Published by Ticknor. Reed and Fields in between the two yellow endpapers in front, adn we believe all this makes the book a first edition third issue oof Kavanagh, (See Points of Issue by Bill McBride, 1996.) Kavanagh measures 7 1/2 x 5 in. wide, with gilt lettering in the spine, brown incised boards, and 188 pages of text, a tight binding and clean pages, with a faded cover and faded spine, a small dark spot on the front cover and shadows on the rear cover, wear on the crown and bumps on the heel, and a couple of tips are turned in. See BAL 12096. The New England Tragedies was published in Boston by Ticknor and Fields, with "1868" on the title page and "1868" on the copyright page, which makes this a first edition because the dates match and there are no other printings listed on either page, and it is possibly a first edition first issue because it has "Isaiah" in battered type on page 12, which is a point of issue it needs to have to be a first edition first issue. The book is in brown cloth, with gilt lettering and the gilt publisher's device at the bottom of the spine ("TF" for "Ticknor and Fields"), embossed gilt decorations and lettering on the front cover, brown endpapers with "Fred Lockley" impressed on the first blank endpaper and "Geo W. Hubbard Feb. 1869 Harriet E. Byrne" inscribed on the front flyleaf, with two dramatic plays: John Endicott in Part I and Giles Corey of the Salem Farms in Part II, and 179 pages of text in all. See BAL 12150. The book measures 7 x 4 3/4 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages, there's bumps on the crown and heel and the gilt has faded on the spine, with small spots on the back cover, and the tips are lightly rubbed and a bit turned in. The next title is The Divine Tragedy, published by Osgood in 1871, adn the dates on the title page and copyright page match, with no other printings, which makes this a first edition. The book has gilt lettering and the Osgood publisher's device on the spine, a gilt cross with Latin letters on the front cover, in pebbled green cloth with bevelled edges, brown endpapers, the title page, two pages of Contents, and 150 pages of text. See BAL 12157. The book measures 7 1/8 x 4 7/8 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean pages and text. There's specks of rubbing not eh crown and light bumps on the heel, a small spot on the front cover, a brown endpaper is missing at the rear, and there is very light rubbing at the tips, and still an attractive copy of this Longfellow title. Three Books of Song was published by Osgood in 1872 and it's a first edition because the dates on the title page and copyright page match, with no other printings, the spine has gilt titles and the publisher's device in gilt at the bottom, attractive gilt decorations on the cover, bevelled edges, brown endpapers, the title page, two pages of Contents, 204 pages of text, including the last page which is unnumbered, and the top edge is gilt. See BAL 12159. The book measures 7 1/8 x 5 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages and text are clean, with light wear on the crown and heel, a loose gutter before the tiel page - the binding is tight otherwise - very light rubbing on the edges of the spine and some of the bevelled edges, a couple of light scratches on the back cover, and light wear at the tips. Aftermath, published by James R. Osgood in Boston in 1873 and dated 1873 on the copyright page, which makes this a first editor because the dates on the title page and copyright page match and there are no other printings, but the covers are a terra cotta color, rather than green, which makes this a first edition. The book has gilt lettering and a sickle and wheat device on the spine and front cover, bevelled edges, brown endpapers, a biblical frontispiece and protective tissue guard, two pages of Contents, it has two parts: Tales of a Wayside Inn and Bird of Passage, and 144 pages of text - the last page is unnumbered. See BAL 12164. The book measures 7 1/i8 x 5 in. wide and in very good condition. The binding is tight and the pages and text are clean, the gilt cover pops, the gilt has faded a bit on the spine, with light rubbing on the heel and crown, specks of rubbing at the tips and along one edge the front cover, and a very attractive copy of Aftermath. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Biographical Sketch, by Francis H. Underwood, published by James R. Osgood in Boston in 1882, with a copyright date of 18812, which makes this a first edition because the dates on the title page and copyright page match and there are no other printings, the book has a frontis portrait of Longfellow, and the book is 355 pages long, including an extensive Appendix. The book is 8vo. and measures 7 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages and text are clean, with bright gilt on the top part of the spine and faded lettering at the bottom part, a light smudge at the bottom of the front flyleaf, light wear at the crown, light rubbing at the tips, and scratches in the back cover, and still an attractive copy of this title. #11 #7021