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WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, Signed CDV, 1865

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Autographs

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Signed & Dated Carte-de-Visite of Poet "William Cullen Bryant"

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, American Poet & Newspaper Editor.
Signed CDV photograph, "William Cullen Bryant, May 24th 1865", at bottom of sepia-toned image, E. & H.T. Anthony backstamp, New York, 4" x 2.4", Choice Extremely Fine or better. CDV of a seated, white-bearded Bryant (1794-1878) was printed from a Matthew Brady negative.

William Cullen Bryant, 1794–1878, American poet and newspaper editor, born in Cummington, MA. The son of a learned and highly respected physician, Bryant was exposed to English poetry in his father's vast library. Admitted to the bar in 1815 after a year at Williams and private study, Bryant practiced law in Great Barrington, MA, until 1825, when he went to New York City. By that time he was already known as a poet and critic. He became associate editor of the "New York Evening Post" in 1826, and from 1829 to his death he was part owner and editor-in-chief. An industrious and forthright editor of a highly literate paper, he was a defender of human rights and an advocate of free trade, abolition of slavery, and other reforms. He also holds an important place in literature as the earliest American theorist of poetry. In his "Lectures on Poetry" (delivered 1825; published 1884) and other critical essays he stressed the values of simplicity, original imagination, and morality. During his later career Bryant traveled widely, made many public speeches, and continued to write. His blank verse translation of "The Iliad" appeared in 1870, that of "The Odyssey" in 1872.


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