1862 1St Printing Battle Hymn Of The Republic Julia Ward Howe, Atlantic Monthly Julia Ward Howe Rare Book Room

The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics. Volume IX. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862. Complete as a volume, 796 pp, 9.5 x 6.5", 8vo. ***First Printing of Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic (No. LII, February 1862, Page 145). In fair condition. Cloth boards scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at leather corners. Head and tail of leather spine chipped, with exposed binding. Gilt lettering and ruling on spine rubbed from shelf-wear, but still legible. Front hinge beginning to split, leather cracked. Text-block shows general toning, mostly around edges of leaves. Binding intact, front hinge fragile. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) was an American author and poet, best known for writing Battle Hymn of the Republic. Born in New York City to a wealthy family, Howe was educated by private tutors and schools for young ladies until she was sixteen. Her eldest brother, Samuel Cutler Ward, traveled in Europe and brought home a private library. She had access to these books & became extremely well-read. She met, because of her father's status and a successful banker, Charles Dickens, Charles Sumner, and Margaret Fuller. Her brother Sam, married into the Astor family. Julia attended lectures, studied foreign languages, and wrote plays and dramas. She married Samuel Gridley Howe, a physician and reformer, in 1843. She was inspired to write the iconic verses of the Battle Hymn after she and her husband visited Washington D.C. and met Abraham Lincoln at the White House in November, 1861. She covers the day in her 1899 book Reminisces. Returning from a visit to an army camp near Washington D.C. in the company of her minister and a band of soldiers, she joined in singing the refrain of 'John Brown's Body,' which greatly pleased the solders. Her minister, Mr. Clarke, asked her: "Mrs. Howe, why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?" She replied she had often wished to but what as yet uninspired. "I went to bed last night," she wrote, "and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. I said to myself, I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper." Complete Vol. IX of The Atlantic Monthly, featuring first printing of Battle Hymn of the Republic. American history. RAREA1862DPQX 04/24 - HK1403