The Battle Hymn of the Republic
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..."
AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR ANTHEM: The generally accepted first printing in the rare original wrappers of the February 1862 issue of the The Atlantic Monthly and the first printing of the August 1887 article by Julia Ward Howe in the The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine revealing an early account of the origin story of the Union’s unofficial Civil War anthem.
In the August 1887 The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine article offered here, Julia Ward Howe tells the origin story of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic”: "In the first year of the Civil War, I made a journey to Washington. As our train sped on through the darkness, we saw..the fires of the pickets set to guard the line of the railroad. The troops lay encamped around their city.” Later that same day, Julia Ward Howe unexpectedly witnessed a skirmish first hand as a group of soldiers were attacked by the enemy. As she slowly returned to the city following the unforeseen violence, she and her companions began to sing “John Brown’s Body.” The nearby soldiers surrounded us like a river,” Ward Howe recalls, drawn to the tune. While she slept soundly that night, she awoke before dawn, desperately “trying to weave together certain lines” of the song that had visited her in her pre dawn twilight sleep. The song, inspired by the events of the day, became “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the most famous patriotic song of the Civil War.
The poem was published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862; she received a fee of $4.
"It was Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s favourite war song. After being showered with praise for her poem, Mrs. Howe was moved to say: ‘I wish very much that it may do some service in time of peace, which, I pray God, may never more be broken’" (Britannica).
Note: There was a simultaneous or near simultaneous printing is the Supplement to the [Connecticut] Courant, but the printing in the February, 1862 issue of The Atlantic Monthly is regarded as the accepted first printing.
In: The Atlantic Monthly, Number 52, February 1862, p. 145. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862. Octavo, original printed wrappers. Wrappers with very minor edgewear. Ad slip removed (as usual) before first page of text. Blind stamp from contemporary bookseller, J.C. Dow Bookseller, Lawrence, Mass. on front cover along with two faint pencil signatures of early owners. Small contemporary review of "Battle Hymn" and this issue pasted to inside of rear cover. .
WITH: The August 1887 “The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine” including portrait of Julia Ward Howe and article by Ward Howe sharing the origin story of this most famous Civil War song. Some dampstaining to ads at rear, but generally fine. (Later (1967) music score of "Battle Hymn" arranged by Roy Ringwald also included.)
Handsomely presented together in a custom box.
Price: $2,900 .