First Thoughts: Life and Letters of Abigail Adams - Hardcover

Edith B. Gelles

9780805716481: First Thoughts: Life and Letters of Abigail Adams

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805716483 ISBN 13: 9780805716481

Publisher: Twayne Publishers, 1998

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Twaynes United States Authors Series presents concise critical introductions to great writers and their works.

Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an authors work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volumeaddresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writers work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading theAuthors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives.

Each volume features:

A critical, interpretive study and explication of the authors works
A brief biography of the author
An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author
Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index
A readable style presented in a manageable length

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About the Author:

Edith B. Gelles is a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Stanford University and the author of Portia: The World of Abigail Adams, winner of the American Historical Association's Herbert Feis Award.

From Library Journal:

Gelles, a senior scholar at the Institute for Research on Women & Gender, Stanford Univ., and author of Portia: The World of Abigail Adams, provides a literary-biographical analysis of Adams's letters. She shows that Adams began as a relatively traditional wife, though one in a marriage based on choice and mutual friendship, but was then transformed into a farm and investment manager for her family, hostess for her ambassador husband, and confidante and adviser when he became the second President of the United States. Adams uses her considerable literary talent in voluminous correspondence, reminding her husband of women's legal needs, seeking out Mercy Otis Warren as a mentor until there was no longer any need for mentoring, and coping gracefully with the isolation imposed by sea travel and by living in France and England. Highly recommended for historians, literary critics, feminists, and general readers and for both general and special collections. Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, VA
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