"WE ALL CLAIM JOHN BURROUGHS AS OUR FRIEND"

BARRUS, Clara. Our Friend John Burroughs. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1914. Octavo, original dark green cloth, top edge gilt, uncut. $550.

First edition, inscribed by Burroughs "Your friend John Burroughs," with an autograph postcard signed by Burroughs and an autograph letter signed by his companion Clara Barrus laid in.

Barrus was a young physician working at a mental hospital when she first met the aging Burroughs, and soon became his acolyte, lover, and constant companion. After his death she devoted herself to preserving his legacy. Our Friend John Burroughs was the first work she published on Burroughs; in 1920 she followed it up with John Burroughs Boy and Man. BAL 1: 2188. The autograph postcard by Burroughs that is laid into this copy reads: "Drear Doctor Hodge, Thank you for your letter of the 4th. I am familiar with the hatching of trout eggs and the behavior of the fry, so will not take the time to come around to the Fisheries Building. We are planning to start for Ga. Friday morning. Hoping we will meet again. Sincerely your John Burroughs." The autograph letter from Barrus, dated in February 1921 from California, less than two months before Burroughs' death and directed to the same recipient, refers him to her two works on the naturalist and notes that "Mr. Burroughs is not very robust this winter, but is enjoying his stay in this sunny land." Additionally laid into this copy are: a two-page hand-written report on Tennyson signed by B.S. Oakley, an order form for the book, an invitation card from the "District of Columbia Woman Suffrage Association. Reception to The Princess Kaiulani and Party," and several newspaper clippings including a photograph of Burroughs, a photograph of a memorial tablet to Burroughs, and several articles entitled "John Burroughs, `Treasury Clerk,' comes Back After Fifty Years," "Birds Back for Burroughs's Seventy-ninth Birthday," and "John Burroughs's Boyhood."

Front inner hinge expertly reinforced, an about-fine copy.