Howe, Julia Ward (1819-1910) Passion-Flowers , Signed Presentation Copy.

Description:

Howe, Julia Ward (1819-1910) Passion-Flowers, Signed Presentation Copy. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854. First edition, the author's first book, octavo, inscribed on ffep by Howe to Lizzie Agassiz [Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz (1822-1907)], signed, "Julia Ward" and dated 22 December 1853, with eight pages publisher's ads bound between rear endleaf dated November 1853, ads unopened; bound in publisher's full textured blind-stamped ribbed red cloth, spine stamped in gilt, yellow endleaves, some chipping to head and tail, corners bumped, 7 x 4 1/4 in.

Howe's first book, written without her husband's knowledge, was released anonymously just before Christmas. She worked secretly with Longfellow and Ticknor, the publisher who had previously declined one of her husband's manuscripts. The content itself was considered incendiary by the standards of the day. Howe writes about her frustrations with the confines of gender norms for women. Most often cited is "Mind versus Mill-Stream," in which a miller attempts to harness the power of a wild stream. The female water spirit defies the miller's plans to tame her. "'Your mill-wheel?' Cried the naughty Nymph/'That would indeed be fine!/You have your business, I suppose/Learn too that I have mine. [...] Then, freeing all her pent-up soul,/She rushed, in frantic race/And fragments of the Miller's work/Threw in the Miller's face."
Estimate $300-500


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