Songs and Ballads of the Maine Lumberjacks with Other Songs from Maine

Harvard University Press, 1924. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed letter. 1st Edition.. A nice copy with some overall wear and a few pages browning from newspaper inserts. Previous owner has written "Come all you jolly young Shantyboys !" in ink on the front cover, underlining each word. This copy belonged to Franz Rickaby, with his bookplate and ownership inscription, "Franz Rickaby/University of Wyoming/Laramie" on the front pastedown. Laid in are two autographed letters from the author. Each 2 page letter is written on a single sheet of paper, folded once, with writing on the cover and recto of the inside after the fold. Both letters, signed Roland P. Gray are undated, but bear the heading of the University of Dubuque. One letter congratulates Rickaby on his forthcoming book, and says, "There is without doubt room for both of us in the field" and mentions Miss Colcord's forthcoming book on Sailors' songs in Maine. Gray also questions, "I would, however, like to know just what it is you want to quote - Your letter dose not specify." The other letter grants permission for Rickaby to quote from Gray's book and discusses process of getting published by The Harvard Press. "Shortly before his groundbreaking and much-praised Ballads and Songs of the Shanty Boy was published in 1926, Rickaby died, leaving later folklorists, cultural historians, and folksong enthusiasts with little knowledge of his life and other unpublished research." This is a wonderful association copy connecting two of great music historians of 20th century America..