The North American Review, Vol. CXLIV

New York: The North American Review, 1887 Hard cover, in original black three quarter leather with gilt, 656 pp. Ownership stamp of Maine laywer and politician Isaac Watson Dyer (1855-1937.) The NAR was the first literary and cultural magazine to be published in the United States, begun in Boston during 1815 and continuing to this day. The item here, Vol. CXLIV of 1887 contains the compiled contents of the six monthly releases, Nos. 362 to 367, January to June. This particular compendium features a number of articles on important topics of the day, which would be of great interest to anyone wishing to dip into the milieu of Gilded Age thought. Among others, John Jay Knox writes about "The Future of the National Banking System." Walt Whitman submits "Some War Memoranda Jotted Down at the Time." George Sand pens a column on "Assumption and Pretension." Articles concerning constitutional reform, suffrage, working women, and the fallout of the Civil War, as well as literary reviews abound in these pages. Publisher/ editor C. Allen Thorndyke Rice was a blue blood of Bostonian publishing stock. After his parents were divorced, he was kidnapped by associates of his mother, dressed as a girl and absconded to Canada and then Europe, where he remained for several years. (The child-snatching was witnessed by none other than his neighbor and school chum, Henry Cabot Lodge.) He would later take degrees at Oxford University and launch his career with the purchase of The National Review in 1876. Rice appears as a character in author Marguarite Cunliffe-Ownen's anonymously penned 1902 roman a clef, A Doffed Coronet. Condition: Very Good. Moderate rubbing and wear to boards. There is a quarter inch closed tear to the spine foot. Otherwise, the interior is remarkably clean, and the heavy paper is bright and a pleasure to read. The hinges are sound. Ownership stamp in two forward pages as noted above.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.