[Rarebooks] FS: First Printing of The Battle Hymn of the Republic

[Charles Agvent]

HOWE, Julia Ward. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in the February 1862 
Issue of THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, February 
1862. First Edition. Original beige printed wraps with an American flag 
centered over a sun bursting behind clouds. The true first printing of 
one of the most celebrated hymns of the nineteenth century, written at 
night near the beleaguered capital of Washington at the beginning of the 
Civil War. In Howe's book REMINISCENCES: 1819-1899, she describes the 
composition of this important piece of Americana: "I went to bed that 
night as usual, and slept, according to my wont, quite soundly. I awoke 
in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, 
the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. 
Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, 'I must get up and 
write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.' So, 
with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an 
old stump of a pen which I remembered to have used the day before. I 
scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper" (page 275). The 
poem earned her the grand total of $5 upon its publication on the first 
page of the February 1862 issue of THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY along with the 
added bonus of instant and lasting fame. Later Howe became president of 
the New England Woman Suffrage Association as well as the Association of 
the Advancement of Women. Howe was honored as the first woman elected to 
the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1908, two years before her 
death at 91. Usually found in the bound volume of six issues without 
covers, the individual issue is quite scarce, especially in this 
condition. Near Fine. (#016164)        $1,500.00

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