ABSTRACT

In this book, Edith B. Gelles asserts that Abigail Adams' vivid, insightful letters are "the best account that exists from the pre to the post-Revolutionary period in America of a woman's life and world." Adams' spontaneous, witty letters serve dual purposes for the modern reader: it provides an intriguing first hand account of pivotal historical events and it shows how these events from the Boston Tea Party to the War of 1812 entered the private sphere. Included in the book is a chronology, notes and reference section and a selected bibliography. This book will be a must for all scholars of American literature, history and politics seeking to understand this literary figure.

part |2 pages

The Eighteenth-Century Letter

chapter 1|11 pages

Introduction: Letter as Literature

chapter 2|17 pages

Remember the Ladies"

part |2 pages

The Confidential Letter

part |2 pages

The Travel Letter

chapter 4|14 pages

The Voyage

chapter 5|17 pages

In the Midst of the World in Solitude"

chapter 6|23 pages

At the Court ofSt. James's

chapter |2 pages

Interlude

part |2 pages

The Historic Letter

chapter 8|7 pages

End of the Story

chapter |21 pages

Notes and References

chapter |9 pages

Selected Bibliography