THE POEMS OF ELIZA COOK : COMPRISING MELAIA; TOGETHER WITH HER MISCELLANEOUS PIECES

New York: Leavitt & Allen, 1850. Hardcover. Good Plus. New York: Leavitt & Allen: No date [1850]. 6 x 4 1/4 inches: pp. 288, floral design around text to each page. Blue cloth with embossed design on cover and gold gilt titles and decoration to spine.

Corners bumped and chafed, frays to head and tail of spine. Some light discoloration to cover, general edgewear. Top gilt has numerous scuffs, scratches. Some names and writing on front endpapers, enumerated birth date, marriage date and death of previous owner (?). Names and dates of several different members of the Welton family on the upper edge of the next few pages. The book was obviously handed on to several generations within the family. Some spotting to margins and light toning, overall text clean. "Lane County Pioneer Museum - Eugene, Oregon" stamped on bottom of page 33 and blacked out on free facing end page. Eliza Cook [1818-1889] began writing poetry as a child and published her first poetry collection , "Lays of a Wild Harp" when she was seventeen. In 1838, her poem "The Old Armchair" brought her fame in England and the United States. From 1849-54 she published "Eliza Cook's Journal", a weekly periodical which she also wrote and edited. Cook was a social activist, speaking out against child labor and general poor working conditions; promoted political and sexual freedom for women and self-improvement through education.