1845 Poetry of Flowers + Botany 12 Color Plates Frances S Osgood Edgar A Poe

The Poetry of Flowers and Flowers of Poetry: To Which Are Added, A Simple Treatise on Botany, with Familiar Examples, and a Copious Floral Dictionary. Edited by Frances S. Osgood. New York: J. C. Riker, 129 Fulton St. 1845, First Edition. Complete 12 color plates (including frontispiece), 276 p. Original decorated red leather binding measures 7.5 x 4.5", 12mo. In good condition. Boards normally scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine scuffed; gilt lettering and deco bright and clean. All edges of text-block gilt. Very light toning in margins; some normal off-setting on tissue guards. Plates remain very attractive, bright & clean. Binding tight and intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Frances Sargent Osgood (1811 –1850) was an American poet and one of the most popular women writers during her time. Nicknamed "Fanny", she was also famous for her exchange of romantic poems with Edgar Allan Poe. Osgood was a prolific writer and contributed to most of the leading periodicals of the time. She was one of the most admired women poets during the mid-1840s. Osgood was very open and personal in her writings, often discussing the relationships she had with others, despite her shy personality. A large portion of her body of work is love poetry but she also addresses poems to her mother, her sister, her husband, and several friends. In February 1845, Poe gave a lecture in New York in which he criticized American poetry, especially that of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He made special mention, however, of Osgood, saying she had "a rosy future" in literature. Though she missed the lecture, she wrote to a friend, saying Poe was "called the severest critic of the day", making his compliment that much more impressive. In 1845, Poe used his role as one-third owner of the Broadway Journal to print some of Osgood's poems, including some flirtatious ones: The Rivulet's Dream (1845), So Let It Be. To-- (1845), Love's Reply (1845), Spring (1845), Slander (1845), Echo-Song (1845), To-- (1845), A Shipwreck (1845) and To 'The Lady Geraldine (1845). Poe responded with published poems of his own, occasionally under his pseudonym of Edgar T. S. Grey. Most notable is his poem A Valentine. The poem is actually a riddle that conceals Osgood's name, found by taking letter 1 from line 1, letter 2 from line 2, and so on. Despite these passionate interchanges, the relationship between Poe and Osgood is often considered purely platonic. Complete plates! Gift quality! COLI1845BMNB - 12/25 - HK3039.…