1898 HIAWATHA Longfellow Minnehaha Edition Hardcover

This is an 1898 Minnehaha edition of Hiawatha by Longfellow published by the Federal Book Company. A "Minnehaha Edition" typically refers to a specific edition that features the character Minnehaha. It's a visually appealing edition with illustrations and unique bindings. It was most likely a gift book designed for display. There is a name written inside the front cover of this copy. The hinge is split, and the spine needs glue. The pages show tanning.

I think I first read "Hiawatha" in junior high. I was mesmerized by the poem bringing to light the Native American culture in beautiful prose. It was first published by Longfellow in 1855, and it is considered important because it was one of the first major works of American literature to prominently feature Native Americans positively. Longfellow wrote in his journal, “I have at length hit upon a plan for a poem on the American Indians... It is to weave together their beautiful traditions into a whole.” The reviewer for the New York Times hated it at the time and had an opinion that echoed the American public. “Because there is no romance about the Indians,” he wrote and referred to Indians as “a justly exterminated race.”