Description
An original 1893 Portland Edition of Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in Boston and New York by Houghton, Mifflin and Company and printed by The Riverside Press, Cambridge.
This handsome late-Victorian edition presents Longfellow’s European travel sketches, literary observations, legends, and writings on Spain and Spanish poetry. Its illustrated title page features the house in Portland, Maine, where Longfellow was born, providing a direct connection to the author’s birthplace and explaining the publisher’s “Portland Edition” designation.
Notable features include:
* Dated 1893 on the title page
* Original Houghton, Mifflin and Company Portland Edition
* Original two-tone green and cream cloth binding
* Gilt front-cover title and decorative floral ornament
* Illustrated title-page vignette of Longfellow’s Portland birthplace
* Original 1836 copyright notice retained in this edition
* Publisher’s advertisement for the Portland, Salem, and Brunswick editions
* Period Christmas and birthday presentation inscription dated 1895
* Inscribed to Mabel Westfall of Park Rapids, Minnesota, and signed “Paja”
* Earlier handwritten personal-library notation, “No. 89”
The original cloth binding displays attractively despite age-related wear. The cream cloth has discoloration and soiling, while the green cloth shows rubbing, fading, edge wear, and small areas of fraying. The gilt decoration remains visible, and the spine lettering is readable. The interior has expected age toning and scattered spotting, with the period inscription adding authentic 19th-century provenance and character.
A desirable decorative edition for collectors of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American literature, Victorian books, early travel writing, Maine history, and antique publisher’s bindings.
Please view all the photos carefully for the book’s contents, binding, inscription, and condition.
