Poems and Ballads.
8vo.; navy blue cloth, stamped in blind and gilt. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
First edition. A presentation copy, inscribed on the first blank by Lazarus to her supporters and
dear friends, the writer and editor Richard and Helena deKay Gilder: Richard & Helena Gilder
from their sincerely affectionate friend Emma Lazarus. Milton – July 10th 1881. With Richard
Gilder’s discreet book tag at the foot of the page.
Lazarus wrote to Helena Gilder on June 26, 1881, speaking of Milton (the summer cottage of the
Gilders) and asking if Helena has seen her Heine volume yet. It seems clear that within a couple
of weeks she brought this copy to Milton for the Gilders. Richard Watson Gilder was an editor at
Century Magazine and Scribner’s, where Lazarus was published. Helena de Kay Gilder, an
accomplished artist, illustrated many stories in both magazines. Helena served as an occasional
model and was the unrequited love of the painter Winslow Homer. She helped found the Society
of American Artists.
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