Ten Volumes By William Ellery Leonard


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This Midland City	Aesop and Hyssop	Beowulf	Lynching Bee	Tutank- hamen and After


Two Lives	Man Against Time	Glory of the Morning	Fragments of Empedocles	Vaunt of Man

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A Collection of Ten Volumes by William Ellery Leonard

Including a Numbered, Limited Edition, Author's Volume, Association Copy of This Midland City that has been Inscribed Twice, Initialed, and Hand Corrected by the Author; and in which was Discovered a Magazine Clipping that is a Letter to the Editor of The Nation under William Ellery Leonard's Alias, with Hand-Written Notations

A First Edition of Leonard's Translation of Beowulf with an Initialed Presentation Inscription, and Author's Signature

A Unique First Edition of The Lynching Bee with a Presentation Inscription by the Author

A Rare Association Copy, First Edition of Aesop and Hyssop that contains the Gift Bookplate of Thomas H. Dickinson, with an Original Advertisement Insert from the Publisher

A Scarce Leather-Bound Copy of Glory of the Morning, A Play Written by Leonard and Published by the Wisconsin Dramatic Society

Tutankhamen and After

Two Lives - A Poem

A Man Against Time

Glory of the Morning

The Fragments of Empedocles

The Vaunt of Man

A Letter to the Editor of The Nation under William Ellery Leonard's Pen Name

Advertising Insert from The Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago

William Ellery Leonard was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on January 25, 1876. He received his bachelor's degree from Boston University, and a master's degree from Harvard in 1899. Leonard attended gratuate school at the Universities of Gottingen and Bonn in Germany; He received his doctorate from Columbia in 1904. His various careers included professor, poet, author, playwrite, Latin instructor, high school principal, and dictionary editor.

William Ellery Leonard
(Photograph not included.)

Leonard came to Wisconsin in 1906 as a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. By 1926 he had become a tenured professor. He lived in the Madison Wisconsin area for the rest of his life. Numerous refrences to the geography, local native American customs, and history of the Madison area are found throughout his work. Professor Leonard is probably best known for his epic sonnet Two Lives, once the longest sonnet in American poetry, and for his translations of Beowolf and Lucretius.

Leonard had a fear of open spaces, agoraphobia, stemming from a tramautic childhood mishap involving a passenger train. He gives a fictionalized account of the event in The Locomotive God. Leonard found inspiritation for his poetry in the everyday events of his life. He has been called one of the "top ten twentieth century artists of the Madison, Wisconsin area." He died on May 22, 1944, at his home on Murray Street in Madison.

One of the books in this collection has this touching gift inscription to a friend of Leonard's:

"This copy of The Lynching Bee to my friend ...(name) from the author, who used to beat her at chess, ride a bicycle with her in in the Madison suburbs, and instruct her in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer - William Ellery Leonard, December, 1920."

Another volume in this collection, Beowulf - Translated into Verse, has another such presentation inscription, and a signature on the half-title page:

Two volumes in this set are association copies; once owned by Thomas Herbert Dickinson, contemporary and associate of William Ellery Leonard. The copy of This Midland City offered here for sale has been inscribed by the author to Dickinson. On the pastedown pages of This Midland City and Aesop and Hyssop, there are gift bookplates that read: "The University of Wisconsin Library - Gift of Thomas Herbert Dickinson."

Glory of the Morning
(Photograph not included.)

Additionally, Leonard dedicates his play Glory of the Morning to Dickinson, the general editor of The Wisconsin Series, of which Glory of the Morning is but one of the translated and original plays published by the Wisconsin Dramatic Society at Madison. Thomas Dickinson was the author of Chief Contemporary Dramatists, An Outline of Contemporary Drama, Playwrights of the New American Theatre and other scholarly works.

This collection contains:

A unique copy of This Midland City that was signed twice, initialed, and hand corrected by the author. It is inscribed to associate, friend, and fellow author, Thomas H. Dickinson. It has the University of Wisconsin gift bookplate of Thomas H. Dickinson.

A scarce association copy, first edition of Aesop and Hyssop that also contains the gift bookplate of Thomas H. Dickinson; with an advertising insert from Open Court Publishing.

A first edition of Beowulf, which the author initialed and dated.

An early example of the author's work, The Lynching Bee, that was signed by the author for a friend before he achieved his greatest fame.

Plus, we have a rare leather-bound, first printing of Glory of the Morning, a play that is dedicated to Thomas H. Dickinson.

In addition, there are five more scarce first edition titles in this collection by Leonard: The Fragments of Empedocles, A Man Against Time, Two Lives - A Poem, Tutankhamen and After, and The Vaunt of Man.

Finally, to round-out a truly one of a kind collection, we offer an "off-print" of a letter to The New York Nation, written under Leonard's war-time alias, "Robert Wylie Weldon", with hand notations by Leonard.

Price: $2,000.00 for all ten books, two extras, U. S. shipping, and insurance. Careful packing is our standard.

This web page was updated May 29, 2001.

Books by Netsifters
Checks and cash are welcome, US funds only. Cashier or Bank checks are preferred because we hold all personal checks until they clear. Shipping is free within the United States. Outside the U.S. shipping is by arrangement. Wisconsin residents Must add sales tax. Email for details. We will offer a refund (excluding shipping costs) if your order arrives in a not as described condition. To order this set through Advanced Book Exchange, click here:

Ten Volumes by William Ellery Leonard

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Madison, WI USA
53714-0717


Home	Antique	Features	ABE	eBay


This Midland City	Aesop and Hyssop	Beowulf	Lynching Bee	Tutank- hamen and After


Two Lives	Man Against Time	Glory of the Morning	Fragments of Empedocles	Vaunt of Man