Morning on the Wissahiccon" in THE OPAL: A Pure Gift for the Holy Days, Edited by N.P. Willis

New York: John C. Riker, 1844. First Edition. Hardcover. The first appearance of this travel essay, which is better known under the title "The Elk". When Poe lived in Philadelphia from 1837 to 1844, he occasionally rowed and hiked in the area where the Wissahickon meets the Schuylkill River. Sometime in 1843 Nathaniel Parker Willis commissioned Poe to write, for a holiday gift annual, a “plate article”, a type of essay meant to accompany (and usually inspired by) an engraved drawing. In this case, the plate was John Gadsby Chapman’s “Morning”, showing a statuesque elk on a hillside outcrop. For the accompanying sketch Poe wrote about one of his visits to the Wissahickon and created a “romance” from the site’s primeval splendor. 12mo: 264 with 9 plates, including the frontispiece and engraved title page. All edges gilt. In the publisher's brown calf binding, with gilt-stamped titles, decorations, and borders. The binding has been expertly recased with the spine laid down. Typical toning and mild foxing to the plates and opposing leaves. Tiny ink dot next to the Poe story on the Contents page. Period ink gift inscription to the front flyleaf, with a small bookplate to the front pastedown. Light fading along the extremities. Scarce. (Inventory #: 78003)