EUR
CAD
AUD
GBP
MXN
HKD
CNY
MYR
SEK
SGD
CHF
THBHenry Wadsworth Longfellow 1863 Handwritten Letter
About Seller
522 South Pineapple Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236
United States
Sarasota Estate Auction specializes in a wide variety of furniture, antiques, fine art, lighting, sculptures, and collectibles. Andrew Ford, owner and operator of the company, has a passion for finding the best pieces of art and antiques and sharing those finds with the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Two ways to bid:
- Leave a max absentee bid and the platform will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid during the live auction.
- Bid live during the auction and your bids will be submitted real-time to the auctioneer.
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $10 |
| $100 | $25 |
| $250 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,500 | $250 |
| $7,500 | $500 |
| $20,000 | $1,000 |
| $50,000 | $2,500 |
| $100,000 | $5,000 |
| $250,000 | $10,000 |
About Auction
LiveJan 20, 2018 - Jan 21, 2018
Sarasota Estate Auction sarasotaestateauction@gmail.com
View Full Catalog (524)
- Lot Description
A four-page letter written and signed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863. Longfellow was one of the most famous poets in America in the nineteenth century. He lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts and his second wife died in 1861, after sustaining burns when her dress caught fire. When Longfellow tried to save her, he burned himself so badly that he was unable to attend her funeral, and his facial injuries led him to stop shaving. That’s why he’s usually depicted with a beard. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing poetry for a while and focused on translating works from foreign languages. Longfellow supported abolitionism and hoped for a reconciliation between the north and south after the Civil War ended. The book he refers to in the letter is a German book about slavery in the United States. Longfellow was writing to Friedrich Kapp, a German-American lawyer, writer, and politician who spoke out against Germany’s colonization in the 1800’s. Kapp visited Florida in 1852 and became a staunch opponent of slavery in the United States. The letter reads: Cambridge, March 17 1863 My Dear Sir, I had last evening the pleasure of receiving your note, and the copy of your “Geschichte der Sklaverei“, which you were so kind as to send me. I beg you to accept my best acknowledgments and thanks for your kindness, and do believe that I shall read your work with great interest, already enlisted beforehand by what Mr. [ ] said of it when he was here. I see by your Dedication, and by the words with which this volume closed, that you have laid your hand on the very heart of the mystery; and I hope this war will pass like a sponge over that dark map at the end of the book, and wash the lower part of it as white as the upper. I remain Dear Sir, Yours truly Henry W. Longfellow In German, “Geschichte der Sklaverei” means “The History of Slavery”. The first edition was published in 1860 and a second edition came out in 1861. The full title of the book is Geschichte der Sklaverei in den Vereinigten Staate von Amerika (The History of Slavery in the United States of America). Kapp was such an opponent of slavery that he actively campaigned for the Republican Party in 1856 and 1860, and in 1860 he was even nominated as an elector for Abraham Lincoln. Along with Carl Schurz, he became a prominent activist and influenced German-Americans to come over to the Union cause. Framed and matted. Frame is 18 1/4” x 12”. Sight size is 16” x 10 1/8”. Image size is 8 1/2” x 6 3/8”. Letter was purchased in 2010 for $2,425 through the NY Times Sale. Authenticity letter also included.
- Shipping Info
-
SHIPPING INFORMATION·
Sarasota Estate Auction IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SHIPPING. All shipping will be handled by the winning bidder. Sarasota Estate Auction recommends obtaining shipping quotes before bidding on any items in our auctions. If you are interested in obtaining any information on local shippers, please send us an email and we will kindly send you a list of local shippers. Once payment for an item has been paid to the auction house we release the items to the shippers we recommend on the invoice immediately unless otherwise noted by the buyer. Refunds are not offered under any circumstances base on shipping issues, this is up to the buyer to arrange this beforehand.
PakMail
941-751-2070
Paktara266@gmail.com
UPS Store 4074
(941) 358-7022
Store4074@theupsstore.com
-
- Buyer's Premium
