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Memoirs of An American Lady with Sketches of Manners and Scenery in America, as they existed previous to the revolution.
Memoirs of An American Lady with Sketches of Manners and Scenery in America, as they existed previous to the revolution.
New York: Printed for Samuel Campbell by D. G. Bruce, 1809. Same year as the two-volume first American edition published in Boston. See condition statement below.
A charming picture of New York colonial life, and one that was greatly admired by both Sir Walter Scott and Robert Southey, Anne Grant's 1808 Memoirs of an American Lady combines a biography of Catalina Schuyler, a member of a prominent New York family who helped to educate her, with Grant's memories of her own idyllic childhood in pre-Revolutionary America. Grant's memoir of her stay in the Albany area during the 1760s is notable for its accurate description of colonial life and manners, as well as its discussion of Native Americans (their tribes, customs, conflicts); family matters (education, marriages, children); and political developments. Known primarily for her works describing the traditions of a disappearing Highland culture, this is the only one of her books to focus entirely on a subject other than Scottish history, culture, or literature. Its elegiac tone evokes a world that was overturned by the political turmoil of the Revolutionary War.
Anne Mc Vickar Grant's Memoirs of an American Lady recalled a portion of her childhood days during the 1760s when she was the guest and protege of Madame Margarita Schuyler - the "friend" she introduced to her readers as the "American Lady."
Her memoir first took the form of a letter sent in 1808 to Sir William Grant. It stated: "The Principal object of this work is to record the few incidents, and the many virtues, which diversified and distinguished the life of a most valued friend." She was referring to Madame Schuyler - her host and mentor from the 1760s!
Anne Grant was one of a number of visitors whose memories and perspectives constitute an important part of the community's historical record.
Although Anne Grant's reminiscent reporting contains many errors of fact, it is nonetheless fascinating reading and has been used extensively by historians and antiquarians for almost two hundred years.
From the first chapter:
?On the Mohawk River, about forty miles distant from Albany there subsisted a confederacy of Indian tribes, of a very different character from those mentioned in the preceding chapter; too sagacious to be deceived, and too powerful to be eradicated. These were the once renowned five nations, whom anyone, who remembers then while they were a people, will hesitate to call savages. Were they savages who had fixed habitations; who cultivated rich fields; who built castles (for so they called their not incommodious wooden houses surrounded with palisadoes;) who planted maize and beans, and shewed considerable ingenuity in constructing and adorning their canoes, arms and clothing? They who had wise though unwritten laws, and conducted their wars, treaties, and alliances with deep and sound policy; they whose eloquence was bold, nervous and animated; whose language was sonorous, musical, and expressive: who possessed generous and elevated sentiments, heroic fortitude, and unstained probity: Were these indeed savages??
Condition: Front and rear boards detached but present. Spine missing except for about a 1 ?? strip. Pages uniformly aged. First free endpaper through iv detached but present, chipped and worn. Occasional chipping to page edges. Rear board spotted and worn at corners. Contents tight, except for the very occasional chip on a page edge.
First free endpaper has two names- Marion Howard Clifford, Providence, RI and another which might be Emily Perry Mann, on Perry Place. The word/s after Perry Place are faded and difficult to read. On the reverse of the first free endpaper, also faint and difficult to read, is an inscription that begins- ?This being a favorite book of my mother who held the author in great esteem ?? goes on for 16 lines. On the reverse of the frontis someone has pasted an obituary for Mrs. Blandina Dudley from the NY Post that begins ?We notice the recent death of Mrs. Blandina Dudley, of Albany, at an advanced age, after having outlived most of her mental faculties.? The name Mary or Harry Howard is also written on this page. On the reverse of the title page is another newspaper clipping.
$200.00
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