Handwritten poem, signed “H. W. L.,” contained within a partial-self contained ALS, one page, both sides, 4.25 x 6.75, no date. Within the letter, Longfellow writes out the first verse of his poem ‘Amalfi.’ In full: “Let me sing you a song. Here are the first lines of ‘Amalfi,’ just enough to show you the mood and measure. ‘Sweet the memory is to me / Of a land beyond the sea, / Where the waves and mountains meet, / Where amid her mulberry-trees / Sits Amalfi in the heat, / Bathing ever her white feet / In the tideless summer seas.’ I need not fill my papers with this, if I had anything else to fill it with. But to-day is Sunday, and I see no Sunday paper. Blessed rest from things disagreeable, but not promotive of gossip.” Letter has been neatly tipped in by its left edge to a hardcover, first edition of Three Books of Song, [published by James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1872] with the letter’s recipient writing on the page adjacent, “This manuscript was given to me by the Rev. Samuel Longfellow soon after he had published his brother’s life & letters.” Book also has an affixed portrait of Longfellow and his house affixed to the opening pages, each with pencil notations underneath. In fine condition.
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