This beautiful book is titled "The Song Of The Sower" by William Cullen Bryant. It was published in New York by D. Appleton in 1871 [MDCCCLXXI] and illustrated with forty-two engravings on wood, and the book is a first edition, according to WorldCat. The green cloth is decorated with gilt lettering and wheat design in gilt on the spine, gilt-ruled borders with a gilt title and gilt decorations within a black border on the front cover, the back cover is blindstamped with the title and wheat designs in relief, the edges are bevelled and all the edges are gilt. There are pale yellow endpapers, the title page, the copyright page dated 1870, a four-page List of Illustrations, and 48 pages of text and illustrations, including three by Winslow Homer. William Cullen Bryant (1794 - 1878) was an American Romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Post. Born in a log cabin in Cummington, Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but turned to poetry early in his life. He relocated to New York and took up work as an editor at various newspapers, and he became one of the most significant poets in early literary America and was grouped among the Fireside poets of New England because his poetry was so popular and accessible. Bryant's most famous poem was "Thanatopsis", and his poems have been described as thoughtful and meditative. He was a major force behind the idea that became Central Park, as well as a leading proponent of creating the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He had close affinities with the Hudson River School of art, and with his beard, he looks a lot like like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The book is 8vo. and measures 9 x 6 7/8 in. wide, with a tight binding and clean text and illustrations. There are specks of rubbing on the heel and crown, minute specks on the tips, and one tip on the back has a dent at the bottom. Overall a very attractive copy of this poetry book by William Cullen Bryant. #32 #7029