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Reissue of the 1847 volume, with a new preface ; vii, [2], 336 p. 19 cm. ; Bal 13930 ;LCCN: 03-15494 ; LC: D919; Dewey: 914 ; OCLC: 1711142 ; green stamped cloth, gold designs ; no dustjacket ; no lines present on copyright page ; edges trimmed; "You know that I had learned to use the sickle on our farm-land in the valley, before I went away;-and could bind up the ears at harvest, with the stoutest of any men. Now here, I bring back these Gleanings from beyond the Waters:-I have plucked a grain-head here, and a grain-head there; but only since I have come home, and only at your request, have I bound a few together in a Sheaf. Here it is, homely and rude as our pastures upon the hills: but it has a fragrance for me-dare I hope it can have as much for you? In the binding up, it has made scenes come back, and stir my soul, as I thought it could not be stirred twice. Yet is it useless-altogether useless-the effort to make words paint the passions that blaze in a man's heart, as he wanders for the first time over the glorious old highways of Europe! This sheaf, Mary, is a sheaf of tares. You might pardon it: but there is that sly-faced step-dame-the Public-whom, as yet, I do not know at all,-whom as yet, I tremble to face; and I fear greatly, that she will look with a colder eye than yours, over these Gleanings, thrown together with the same free and careless hand, with which I used to tie up the last sheaves before a shower. But it is too late now to waver: and if I have not one kind look save yours, I hope I may have the courage to say, in the submissive spirit of Medea:- Eatur-nihil recuso-merui."--Preface ; "Your gleanings are a better gift, than most of the heavy-legged reapers, who have had the field to themselves, have been able to make up from the first cuttings. They have been usually such a dash-a-head, bungling set, that half the best grain has been left on the ground. Besides, they have altogether neglected many little nooks & hollows. Nor are your gatherings any the less charming, or gift-worthy, that you have tied them up quietly in a corner of the fence-and left, too, some odd flowers among the heavy grain-heads. Only give the public the thrashing of your sheaf & wait the result. Speaking critically, it is as pleasant a book as one could desire for summer reading-as pleasant as he will easily get, if he be unreasonable enough to desire a better. It comes to us, too, in a guise of quaint elegance; a something half way between the finical rudeness of the old style & the hard monotonous brilliance of modern typography-an appearance which happily accords with the matter & manner of the writing, a mixture, as it is, of fastidious simplicity and quaintness, an intense love for nature in art, a quiet liking for the unique, an occasional conceit, and some touches of to affectation 'e like the old-looking title-page;- there is as much difference in title-pages, as in the tying of different persons' cravats-we like the apt motto from Herodotus-we like the little vignette, a simple sheaf of grain, not too bulky, tied with a wisp of its own straw-an unaffected emblem of the author's modest "gleanings," which he has gathered wanderingly, at random & bound them up under the shadow of a tree, with an air of indolent nicety. We like, too, the dividing of his briefly-noticed topics, by neither chapter or figure, but plain captions & a large plain initial-a style of the last century, unassuming & beautiful enough to be brought back again for books of a certain kind.He has, therefore, in his jottings, a little more of what he has seen, than of what he has found out-he is more observant than inquiring-the reverse of most American travellers." ---A. L American Whig Review, Volume 6 1847 ; Contents: First step toward the continent. Paul Pry. Torquay. Inn by the bridge. Zebra. Saint Hiliers. Island of Jersey. La Hogue Bie. La Solitude. World of Paris. etc ; covers somewhat worn ; G [DANGER:Probable Poison Book! - Arsenic in cover]. Seller Inventory # 008340
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