George Washington's Beautiful Nelly The Letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis; Patricia Brady (ed.)

ISBN 10: 157003124X / ISBN 13: 9781570031243

Published by University of South Carolina Press, 1996

About this Item

Softcovers. xxii+ 287 pp. with index, bibliography. Fine. Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (1779-1852) , George Washington's adopted daughter, was in many ways the quintessential southern lady but was also something of an SAmerican clebrity. Her letters to her lifelong friend Elizabeth Bordley Gibson recorded the experience of the first First Family, the social whirl and political gossip of the new republic's elite, and the difficulties of motherhood and marriage.

Seller Inventory # E16357

Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Washington's Beautiful Nelly The Letters of Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 157003124X
• ISBN 13: 9781570031243
• Binding: Softcover
• Illustrator: B/w
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
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From the Inside Flap

"This collection of intimate, chatty letters from Washington's adopted daughter to her lifelong friend in Philadelphia charts the narrowing compass of her life, from youthful exuberance as the darling of the president's family and a well-educated observer of public life to an embittered wife of an unambitious, aloof husband. . . . Revealing much about the daily concerns of a Southern woman over a lifetime, these letters remind us that, even as the nation was coming apart, the private worlds of women (and men) were held together by family, faith, and friendships."--Library Journal

"In Nelly's letters can be traced the passage of a Virginia belle of unique privilege into a mature woman who had a share of unhappiness in the premature death of her children and other family members. The letters are expressive; Nelly is forthright in her attitudes about the evils of slavery, the need for culture, the frustrations of societal expectations for women."--Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating window into Nelly's life and times."--Journal of American History