Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including the Olympic Manifesto
Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including the Olympic Manifesto
The Property of a Gentleman
Auction Closed
December 18, 08:58 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 4,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
The Property of a Gentleman
[EMERSON, RALPH WALDO, HENRY DAVID THOREAU, ET AL].
The Dial: A Magazine for Literature, Philosophy, and Religion. Boston: Weeks, Jordan, and Company (vol. I); E.P. Peabody (vols. II and III); and James Monroe and Co. (vol. IV), 1840-1844
16 parts in 4 vols., 8vo (8 1/2 x 5 3/8 in.; 215 x 136 mm). General title-page to each volume; minor toning and occasional spotting, title-pages of vols. III & IV repaired. Uniformly bound in early 20th century tan cloth covered boards.
First edition of the influential Transcendentalist literary magazine
The primary function of The Dial was "to furnish a medium for the freest expression of thought on the questions which interest earnest minds in every community" (lower wrapper). Bronson Alcott suggested the title, Margaret Fuller edited the first eight issues, and Emerson edited the last eight. Among its contributors were Henry David Thoreau, James Russell Lowell, Theodore Parker other great authors and philosophers of the period. Mott notes that its circulation "never exceeded three hundred, and probably never quite reached that figure."
Complete copies of The Dial are rare, with only 5 copies recorded in American Book Prices Current.
REFERENCE:
BAL 5799; Mott, A History of American Magazine I:702-10; Myerson A11.1