In the entire history of American poetry, Longfellow's Hiawatha is unique in the equal favor it has found with the critics and with the public. At its first publication, nearly half a century ago, it was hailed by the best critics, not only in this country but in Europe, as the finest work of its author, and, in the phrase of one, " the most considerable poem that has appeared for some years in the English tongue," and this when the great Victorian group was in its prime. Its popular reception was even more remarkable, more than fifty thousand copies being sold in the first two years, while since then its readers have reached well into the millions. It has become one of the best-loved poems in the language, one of the imaginative treasures of the English race.
This new popular edition, illustrated by three artists famous for their success in dealing with Indian characters and scenes, Messrs. Frederic Remington, N. C. Wyeth, and Maxfield Parrish, will, it is to be hoped, find favor with readers new and old.
4 Park Street, Boston September, 1911