LITERATURE 34 35EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. May-Day and Other Pieces. Boston, 1867. Octavo, original publisher’s gilt-decorated white cloth gift binding. $11,500 First edition, one of only 100 copies in publisher’s white cloth presentation binding, inscribed by Emerson to British freethinker, author and social reformer Charles Bray: “To Charles Bray, Esq. from R.W. Emerson, May 1867.” Of the 2000 copies printed, only 100 were bound in the present white cloth, “apparently a special presentation binding for Emerson’s friends” (Myerson). Recipient Charles Bray (1811-84) was the son of a wealthy ribbon manufacturer. “Bray was an early supporter of national undenominational education and, following his father’s example of founding schools on the Wilderspin system, helped found a mechanics’ institution in Coventry in 1835 with the money gained by his taking over the family business following his father’s death that year” (ODNB). The Brays’ home was a haven for people who held and debated radical views, such as Emerson. Slight soiling to boards, toning to spine, near-fine. Most scarce and desirable inscribed by Emerson in the month of May to a fellow philosopher. Inscribed By Emerson To A Fellow Philosopher And Author “This Was My First Intellectual Contact With The Theory Of Nonviolent Resistance” (Martin Luther King, Jr.) 36THOREAU, Henry David. A Yankee in Canada, With Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers. Boston, 1866. Octavo, original gilt-stamped brown cloth. $3000 First edition, first printing, containing the first book appearance of Thoreau’s widely influential essay “Civil Disobedience.” One of only 1500 copies printed. In the summer of 1846, tax collector Samuel Staples arrested Thoreau for his refusal to pay the poll tax. The townspeople were so curious about Thoreau’s refusal and imprisonment that he felt compelled to explain his actions in a public lecture in January 1848. Thoreau’s idea of passive but firm resistance to government has had a profound influence on countless revolutionaries and reformers, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. among them. Many of the other essays and speeches in Yankee in Canada express Thoreau’s increasingly strong support for the abolitionist cause. Very mild scattered foxing, expert repairs to text block and inner hinges, cloth with a bit of wear to spine extremities and light soiling. An extremely good copy.
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