A Collection of Books from the Estate of Mary Chesnut, author of the Civil War Memoir "A Diary From Dixie"

CHESNUT, Mary Boykin; James Chesnut, and Others

Published by [South Carolina], 1869

A collection of 25 early 19th Century books from the South Carolina estate of Mary Chesnut and her family. Included are two 1806 volumes with Mary Chesnut s ownership Signature, together with several volumes Signed by her husband James Chesnut, Jr. and his father, both of whom were prominent in South Carolina state politics. Also included is a volume signed by Mary s "beloved sister" Catherine Boykin Miller, her sister-in-law Serena Chesnut, and her grandmother Mary Whitaker. Other volumes are signed by childhood friends and mentors, including Henrietta De Leon (Mary s schoolmaster at Columbia), Oscar M. Lieber (a participant in the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany, who later became South Carolina s state geologist and surveyor), and Arthur Wigfall, (brother of the charismatic Confederate Senator from Texas, Louis Wigfall). Mary Boykin Miller was born in 1823, the daughter of Stephen Decatur Miller, an eminent South Carolinian state representative and governor. She was educated at Madame Talvande s Ladies Boarding School in Charleston, becoming fluent in French and German. In April 1840, she married James Chesnut, Jr., a U.S. senator who later served as a General in the Confederate Army and as a personal aide to Jefferson Davis. During the Secession Winter of 1860-1861, Mary began her "remarkable diary of immense sophistication and insight into the political and societal realities of upper-class life in the South." First published in 1905 as *A Diary from Dixie*, a new edition annotated by C. Vann Woodward won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for history. Ken Burns featured the diary in his documentary, *The Civil War*, which included numerous passages read by the Academy Award-nominated actress Julie Harris. The autograph signatures and inscriptions written in various volumes of the collection document historically important associations between Mary and members of the Miller and Chesnut families, and to her childhood friends and mentors. Seven volumes are signed "Glover," the name of another prominent South Carolinian family of Camden. As noted in a recent University of South Caroliniana Society newsletter, many of Mary s family papers were passed on to "several generations of Mary Chesnut s nieces in the Glover and Metts families of Camden." An unusual and fortuitous survival: most volumes are heavily worn and foxed, in fair or better condition overall, in the original leather boards or publisher s paper covered boards. A detailed list of all 25 volumes is available. Seller Inventory # 463051

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Collection of Books from the Estate of ...
Publisher: [South Carolina]
Publication Date: 1869
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fair