In Memoriam: The Titanic Disaster

Poughkeepsie, NY: Privately Printed, 1913. First Edition. Very Good. Privately printed poem memorializing the sinking of the Titanic. Signed by the author on the title page and warmly inscribed to a pupil. [60] pp. Publisher's unsophisticated brown wraps bound with orange cord, title in black to front wrap. Very Good with moderate edgwear to wraps, 2 creases to rear cover, and long splits to spine. Contents toned, light waterstain to upper 1/4th of textblock throughout. Several pages unopened. A fascinating bit of Americana by the writer and English teacher Hannah Rea Woodman, who returned from New York to her home state of Kansas later in life and became (truncated) a prominent figure in Wichita society. In the tradition of epic poems, valor is emphasized -- the Captain cheerfully directs the lifeboat survivors to row for the light on the horizon before leaping into the sea himself -- against an overwhelming supernatural foe, in this case the brooding iceberg. A contemporary reaction in verse that gives some insight into the mythmaking surrounding the Titanic disaster. (Inventory #: 140947726)