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This is LITTELL'S LIVING AGE No 1439, January 6, 1872 Published by Littell & Gay No. 17 Bromfield Street, BOSTON pages 1 - 64; approx. 6 1/4" x 9 1/2" ; 4 gatherings, sewn (Lacks wrap) In 1844 Eliakim Littell started publishing "Littell's Living age", a weekly literary journal. Mostly it was excerpts from works - both magazine and books - published elsewhere. At times correspondents purported to share material (as see the final item in this issue, a letter from John Adams to General James Warren, about the Boston Tea Party.) sometimes there were bits and snatches of literary news. Trying to place this periodical in the scheme of things, I guess i would say it was a distant forerunner fo periodicals like "The Reader's Digest", only with a higher literary pretention. Just peruse the table of contents for this issue to understand the nature of this antique periodical: * A PERSIAN PASSION PLAY -- by Matthew Arnold (from Cornhill's Magazine) Matthew Arnold was not known for his interest in things of the East, or orientalism, as such interest was known. In this essay he takes as a starting point the Ammergau Passion Play, performed by Catholics in Europe, and then proceeds to discuss ritual displays in Islamic countries, comparing the two, comparing Islamic piety with Christian, etc… /// * ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF MYTHOLOGY -- by Max Müller -- from Contemporary Review …… Max Muller, one of the leading Sanskrit scholars of the nineteenth century, is considered by many to be the father of comparative religious studies, and one must bow to his immense contributions to that study. He supported an allegorical theory of myth. /// * THE LAST TOURNAMENT -- by Alfred Tennyson, Poet Laureate (from The Contemporary Magazine) [This poem is an inegral part of the larger work, "Idylls of the King". Its place is between "Pelleas" and "Guinevere".] Excerpt: For Arthur and Lancelot riding once Far down beneath a winding wall of rock Heard a child wail. A stump of oak half-dead, From roots like some black coil of craven snakes Clutched at the crag, and started thro' mid air Bearing an eagle's nest: and thro' the tree Rushed ever a rainy wind, and thro' the wind Pierced ever a child's cry: and crag and tree Scaling, Sir Lancelot from the perilous nest, This ruby necklace thrice around her neck, And all unscarred from beak or talon, brought A maiden babe; which Arthur pitying took, Then gave it to his Queen to rear: the Queen But coldly acquiescing, in her white arms Received, and after loved it tenderly, And named it Nestling; so forgot herself A moment, and her cares; till that young life Being smitten in mid heaven with mortal cold. /// * THE SOUTH-SEA ISLANDS COOLIE -- by James L. A. Hope ( from The Spectator) excerpt: Sir - The South-Sea Islands Coolie, or as he is commonly called, the Kanaka, has been, is, and will be a person of considerable importance, both to the Australian sugar-planter who hires him, and to the English politician who talks about him. I venture, therefore, to ask fo some small space of your valuable columns in which to show . who the Coolie is, where he comes from, and how I went to fetch him …. /// * A letter from John Adams to General Warren about the Boston Tea Party (1773). The rest of this issue is taken up by various short poems and excerpts of longer serial fiction. *********************** CONDITION: . GOOD ONLY . This is a previously owned item that remains clean and serviceable, with the following particulars noted : LACKS WRAPS (paper covers) -- a bit of smudging and light spotting --- exterior sheets are weathered at corners, else clean and presentable. aside from the wrap, the issue is complete. This is the original periodical, not a modern facsimile. SANS WRAP, ELSE CLEAN AND SERVICEABLE. Seller Inventory # 107
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