Autographed Letter Signed

Cambridge, MA, 1868. Very good. 7.875" x 4.75", 2 pp., on stationary embossed with "L" at the top. Three mailing folds, 1/2" tear along center fold, light fade along fore edge, two mounting tabs on rear, includes original mailing envelope and 3-cent stamp. Content: Lowell declines invitation, "I feel myself highly honored by the choice which the ADP [Alpha Delta Phi] fraternity have made me to deliver a poem at the approaching anniversary, but it is quite out of my power to accept their invitation."; His humble response includes the opportunity to be with his friend, "..would have especially pleased me to have the honor of the day with my friend Mr. Curtis, but even so great a temptation cannot persuade me to undertake a task for which I feel myself incompetent."<br /> <br /> James Russell Lowell (Feb 1819 - Aug 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that rivaled the popularity of British poets. These writers usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside. He and his wife became involved in the movement to abolitionist movement, with Lowell using poetry to express his anti-slavery views. At the time of this writing he was a professor at Harvard University. His reluctance to write and read a poem likely came from an incident in 1865 when he was invited to commemorate Harvard graduates killed in the Civil War. He was upstaged in the presentation by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Ralph Waldo Emerson, which made him, "...ashamed at having been tempted again to think I could write poetry, a delusion from which I have been tolerably free these dozen years."<br /> <br /> The gentleman Curtis referred to in the letter is likely George William Curtis (Feb 1824 - Aug 1892). He was an writer and public speaker, from Providence, Rhode Island. A Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights.