WILLIAM WETMORE STORY | AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED TO GEORGE PERKINS MARSH
- SIGNED
- c. 1870
c. 1870. One-page ALS to a Mr. Mass attempting to procure a specific literary resource: "If you have a copy of Goethe’s works, will you be so kind as to send me by the bearer the volume containing a translation by him of the ‘Cinque Maggio’ by Manzoni?" Signed by Story in black ink. In Very Good condition with mild age-toning, light crease folds, and minor wear along the edges and corners. Measures 5.25" x 8.25". Accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity. RW Consignment. Shelved at Rockville, Room A, General Ephemera Part 2. William Wetmore (February 12, 1819 – October 7, 1895) Story was the son of Associate Justice Joseph Story of the U.S. Supreme Court. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1838 and two years later received a law degree. Story practiced law for about five years and was the author of several legal textbooks, also writing poetry and a biography of his father. Although art was a hobby, he never received formal art instruction. Nonetheless, Story was commissioned to design a memorial statue of his father after his death in 1846. To prepare himself for this project, Story went to Italy to study sculpture.
The recipient is almost certainly George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882), American diplomat, philologist, and early environmental thinker. Marsh lived in Florence from 1861 onward while serving as U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of Italy. He and Story were close acquaintances in the expatriate American community there.
Story is asking whether Marsh owns a copy of Goethe’s works that includes his translation of Alessandro Manzoni’s ode “Il Cinque Maggio” (The Fifth of May). This famous poem (1821) was Manzoni’s elegy on the death of Napoleon. Goethe produced a German translation of the ode.
Story’s inquiry in the present letter shows both his engagement with Goethe and Manzoni (both central literary figures for European Romanticism) and his reliance on Marsh’s well-known private library. It also places the letter within the intellectual circle of American expatriates in Florence, who often used each other’s collections for reference and translation work. 1402267. Special Collections.
The recipient is almost certainly George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882), American diplomat, philologist, and early environmental thinker. Marsh lived in Florence from 1861 onward while serving as U.S. Minister to the Kingdom of Italy. He and Story were close acquaintances in the expatriate American community there.
Story is asking whether Marsh owns a copy of Goethe’s works that includes his translation of Alessandro Manzoni’s ode “Il Cinque Maggio” (The Fifth of May). This famous poem (1821) was Manzoni’s elegy on the death of Napoleon. Goethe produced a German translation of the ode.
Story’s inquiry in the present letter shows both his engagement with Goethe and Manzoni (both central literary figures for European Romanticism) and his reliance on Marsh’s well-known private library. It also places the letter within the intellectual circle of American expatriates in Florence, who often used each other’s collections for reference and translation work. 1402267. Special Collections.