[EMERSON, Ralph Waldo] — SOPHOCLE. PHILOCTÈTE

Paris. Librarie Hachette et Co.. First Edition thus. Contemporary 3/4 blue morocco leather and green marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers (4-3/4" x 7-3/4"), printed in double columns in Greek and French. Issued as part of Hachette's Les Auteurs Grecs. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by Emerson on the half-title page: “George P. Bradford/from/R.W. Emerson.” With additional pencil ownership signature of Sarah Ripley Thayer, Emerson's cousin, on the title page. A lovely association copy. The inscribee, George Bradford, his brother Samuel, and Sarah Ripley Thayer were family friends of the Emersons. George taught at Brook Farm. Sarah's husband James wrote a memoir of Emerson (A WESTERN JOURNEY WITH MR. EMERSON (1884), while her parents were incredibly influential on Emerson's early thinking and education. The Emersons, Ripleys, Bradfords, and Thayers were all very close and likewise friends of Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and other transcendentalists, all of whom shared an interest in French literature, along with the classical Greek and Roman authors. In 1872, the year this book was published, Emerson's house was badly damaged in a fire, and Sarah's sister Elizabeth sheltered Emerson and his family while repairs were made.. Toning to text with some chipping and several corners creased, rear ad leaf reinforced and repaired at gutter and fore-edge; front hinge cracked but covers tight. Very Good