Myers, Robert Manson.
THE CHILDREN OF PRIDE.
Inscribed by the author. New Haven; Yale, 1972. First Edition. 1845 pages, including the index. Map endpapers.
Inscribed on the reverse of the first free endpaper: "Dixie Chandler, with the best wishes of the author, Robert Manson Myers 14 April 1972."
This is the true first edition, not the abridged edition. The first edition is uncommon, and it is rare with an inscription or signature.
A power to invest the age of the Civil War with graphic reality emanates from the extensive correspondence of the Jones family of Liberty County, Ga. As collected and edited by Robert Manson Myers in The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War (1972), the Jones family documents constitute the most remarkable epistolary record yet discovered of a southern family in the years immediately before, during, and after the Civil War. Possessing a literary quality conferred both by well-educated minds and by a deep feeling for the drama of life, the Jones letters belong on the shelf of the best southern writing.
From docsouth.unc.edu.
"The Children of Pride," Robert Manson Myers' classic book about the Jones family, offers a unique and compelling perspective on antebellum and Civil War life, politics and religion.
The patriarch of the family was the Rev. Dr. Charles Colcock Jones, a prominent Presbyterian minister and plantation owner. His wife was Mary Jones, and their children included Charles Colcock Jones Jr., a lawyer and author, Dr. Joseph Jones of Augusta, and Mary, their daughter who married the Rev. Robert Quarterman Mallard, a Presbyterian minister.
Myers tells their stories through the skillful selection and editing of letters from the voluminous Jones papers. The book, first released in 1972, was an instant success. It was the winner of the 1973 National Book Award in History (the hardcover original is now out of print) .
That's just a fraction of the family papers. In the preface to his book, Myers says the University of Georgia and Tulane University have some 7,000 family letters in their repositories.
The letters are a treasure because the Jones family was rich - they were the owners of three plantations and the masters of more than 100 slaves - and thoughtful.
The Rev. Dr. Charles Colcock Jones was a leading proponent of religious instruction for slaves. His "The Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United States," published in 1842, was popular throughout the South. He also served as a professor of ecclesiastical history at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Columbia, S.C. In 1850, when the national debate over slavery was intense, he was named to an important position with the national Presbyterian church. Ill health forced him to resign three years later.
An Oct. 27, 1860, letter from Charles Colcock Jones Jr. to his mother:
"My very dear Mother,
"I was yesterday favored with your precious letter of the 25th inst. (October), and must thank you for all the kind congratulations and valuable advice which it contains. You never forget my birthday, and each recurrence brings me a message of love and interest, full of the tenderest maternal solicitude and of the purest Christian counsels. How much, my dear mother, do I owe to you and to dear Father! ... Time does but consecrate you and all your virtues in my heart of hearts. ...
"The duties of the mayoralty are heavy upon me - more particularly so when the present political status of the country is considered, and the further facts which grow out of it - that scoundrels are seen, and suspicious persons found, tampering with our Negroes and attempting to induce them to leave the state. I have now under arrest a crew of Negro sailors - free men of color - who are charged with this offense. The case comes up before me on Monday next. I find also that great laxity has obtained in reference to the conduct of the Negro population. The consequence is that they have forgotten their places - are guilty of gambling, smoking in the streets, drinking and disorderly conduct generally. To the remedy of this I intend to devote, and am devoting, my every energy. I mean also to bring to justice those offenders of foreign birth, the rum-sellers, who at the corners of our streets in their shops are demoralizing our servants and ruining them in every point of view. Any mayor who is sensibly alive to the duties which are devolved upon him, and who endeavors conscientiously to discharge them, has, I can assure you, his hands full."
From www.savannahnow.com
History buffs have descended on Liberty County for years, making pilgrimages there to see the setting of Robert Manson Myers' epic, The Children of Pride. The book, a collection of authentic Civil War letters of a Liberty County plantation family, vividly recreate a period of American history unparalleled for its drama and poignancy.
From www.libertycounty.org
Dr. Myers has a colorful history. He is an historian, playwright, author, and winner of the National Book Award for The Children of Pride, an archive of letters from the Civil War. As an educator, Dr. Myers has taught English at the University of Maryland, the University of London, and a number of other institutions.