American Beauty Personified as the Nine Muses

(Boston, MA: A. A. Childs & Co., Printed by Rand, Avery & Frye], 1869. First edition. Square 12mo (7 1/8 x 6 1/8 inches). 27 leaves [printed rectos only], the text enclosed within bold red rules. Photographic portrait frontispiece of the artist Joseph Fagnani. The text on leaves 16-27, "The Nine Muses," defends the beauty of American women as equal to that of the Greek ideal, is signed "C.A.B." (C. A. Bristed) and is reprinted from the "Chicago Art Journal," July, 1869. Illustrating his point are nine photographs of Fagnani's portraits of the Muses, modeled on young American women, the names of the women written in pencil below the text facing their photographs. Title-page printed in red and blue, title page vignette in blue, two other vignettes on versos of text, printed in blue. Signed under frontispiece portrait, apparently by the artist; Fagnani (1819-1873), a native of Italy, emigrated to the United States before 1850 and painted portraits of many Americans, including politicians Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and President Fillmore. OCLC locates 13 copies (Eastman Museum, Rochester, Huntington, Yale, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Historical Society, Library of Congress, American Antiquarian Society, Harvard, Boston Athenaeum, Smith, Oberlin, Western-Ontario). Scarce in trade, apparently no copy sold at auction over the past 40 years (ABPC, 1976-2017; RareBookHub). With the bookplate of Herbert G. Squiers on the front pastedown and his ownership signature "H. G. Squiers / 7th Cavalry" at the had of the title page; Squiers (1859-1911) was a junior officer in the U.S. Cavalry by 1880, taught military science at Fordham (then St. John's College) for ten years, before returning to active duty with his regiment just after Wounded Knee. Entering the foreign service in the early 1890s, he eventually served as Minister to Cuba, 1902-1905, and Minister to Panama, 1906-1909. Old tideline through upper margin of text (just touching the upper border on 10 leaves). A good copy of a rare book. Original gilt-stamped purple decorated cloth (partly faded, small erosion at upper spine). (9810).