The Literature Collection is particularly strong in nineteenth century British and American authors and includes popular novels and mysteries known affectionately as “Old Fiction,” as well as belles-lettres and poetry.
A selection of first editions from the Literature Collection
Titles from the collection of the Providence Athenæum, including Charles Dickens, Jonathan Swift, Herman Melville, and Louisa May Alcott. Individual volumes include the first editions of The Dramatick Works of Sir Richard Steele (London, 1723), Mutiny and Murder: Confession of Charles Gibbs, a Native of Rhode Island (Providence, 1831), and the Rhode Island Book (Providence, 1841), an anthology of local prose by Anne C. Lynch.
A selection of items from the Susan Jaffe Tane Collection of Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau
In 2021, the Athenæum recently received the most significant addition to its Special Collections in over a century. This extraordinary gift, from the world-renowned Susan Jaffe Tane Collection of 19th-Century American Authors, contains books, essays, poetry, and letters by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) stand as majestic pillars of the transcendentalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century.
Highlights of this extraordinary collection include: a first edition of Thoreau’s Walden (1854); a first edition of Emerson’s Essays (1841) owned by Providence poet Sarah Helen Whitman; an inscription by Emerson to Thoreau in Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution (1838); autographed manuscripts of Thoreau’s poem “Inspiration” (1841) & essay “Ktaadn” (1840s) letters by Emerson to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frank Sanborn, & James Munroe. View a collection guide PDF here.
Highlights of this extraordinary collection include: a first edition of Thoreau’s Walden (1854); a first edition of Emerson’s Essays (1841) owned by Providence poet Sarah Helen Whitman; an inscription by Emerson to Thoreau in Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution (1838); autographed manuscripts of Thoreau’s poem “Inspiration” (1841) & essay “Ktaadn” (1840s) letters by Emerson to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frank Sanborn, & James Munroe. View a collection guide PDF here.
Jonathan Swift. Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World: in four parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships.
London: B. Motte, 1726. 1st ed. Gift of William Anthony Hoppin.
A selection of titles from the Robert Burns Collection
The Robert Burns Collection numbers some 450 volumes, most of which are editions of the writings of Robert Burns (1759-1796), with about 60 biographies or miscellaneous volumes relating to the poet and the scenes of his life and work. Mrs. Charles Bradley presented this collection to the Providence Athenæum in 1920 in memory of her husband, Charles Bradley (1845-1898), who was a dedicated member of the library.
Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York: [Walt Whitman], 1855.
This copy of Leaves of Grass has its copyright information handwritten by Walt Whitman before being typeset. The Athenæum may have bought the edition on the advice of Rev. Frederic H. Hedge, one of the three members of the Athenæum’s Library Committee at the time of publication. Hedge was a Unitarian clergyman and an associate of Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Transcendental Club. The Athenæum’s copy of the first edition cost $1.25 and the library still has the receipt from George H. Whitney Booksellers, dated October 29, 1855.
Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. 1st edition.
Full calf skin binding dyed medium and dark brown, using brass rolls for the blind patterns, gilt lines, and center stamps on spine. Raven onlay using black and red goat skins. Cambridge style binding, 18th century. Raven design from Édouard Manet’s bookplate for Le Corbeau presented to Edgar Allan Poe’s former fiancée, Sarah Helen Whitman by Stéphane Mallarmé in 1876. Bound at Dragonfly Bindery/Studio, Woonsocket RI, 2017 [Conservation in honor of Christina Bevilacqua, Director of Programs, 2005-2016; Courtesy of Susan Jaffe Tane].
Full calf skin binding dyed medium and dark brown, using brass rolls for the blind patterns, gilt lines, and center stamps on spine. Raven onlay using black and red goat skins. Cambridge style binding, 18th century. Raven design from Édouard Manet’s bookplate for Le Corbeau presented to Edgar Allan Poe’s former fiancée, Sarah Helen Whitman by Stéphane Mallarmé in 1876. Bound at Dragonfly Bindery/Studio, Woonsocket RI, 2017 [Conservation in honor of Christina Bevilacqua, Director of Programs, 2005-2016; Courtesy of Susan Jaffe Tane].
