Description
Scarce 1914 first edition of The First Fruits and Other Poems by Kate Tucker Goode, a pocket-size volume of Christian devotional verse published by Fleming H. Revell Company. This copy is especially appealing for its early 1915 ink gift inscription from Rosa C. Goode to “Miss Rachel Lyons,” very likely Rosa Cowles Chambers Goode, the author’s mother and manager of the Buffalo Lithia Springs resort in Virginia (not formally authenticated, but the name and date fit the historical record).
Highlights:
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1914 first edition, Fleming H. Revell Company
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Compact devotional format, approx. 5 x 3 1/4 inches
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Period ink inscription dated August 6, 1915 from “Rosa C. Goode”
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Long title poem “The First Fruits” followed by shorter religious and reflective poems
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Includes “Caleb’s Daughter,” later quoted in L. M. Montgomery’s novel Rilla of Ingleside
The book is divided into two sections: the long resurrection-themed poem “The First Fruits,” followed by a miscellaneous section of shorter pieces such as “He Walked With God,” “Caleb’s Daughter,” “Rizpah,” “The Dream Angel,” “The Four-Leaved Clover,” “The Flight of the Wild Geese,” and others. Together they offer a very period flavor of early twentieth-century devotional and narrative verse, with strong ties to Virginia and to the Goode family around Buffalo Lithia Springs.
Condition
Original brown textured leatherette boards with gilt spine titling and cross ornaments. Heavy rubbing and scuffing to boards and edges, with some board exposure at corners and noticeable loss/chipping at the head of the spine. Binding still holding; boards not detached. Pages uniformly age-toned with scattered foxing. Old water staining/tide marks visible along upper margins of some leaves, including near the start of “The First Fruits”; text remains fully legible. Front free endpaper with neat 1915 ink gift inscription from Rosa C. Goode to Miss Rachel Lyons; upper corner of that leaf is creased. No loose or missing text pages noted.
A well-worn but complete and very characterful first edition, with an appealing early inscription likely from the author’s mother. An interesting addition for collectors of devotional poetry, Buffalo Lithia Springs / Goode family material, or readers of L. M. Montgomery who seek the original source of “Caleb’s Daughter.”
Please view all the photos to judge condition and details for yourself.
