The Remarkable Mrs. Ripley: The Life of Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley

Goodwin, Joan; Goodwin, Joan W.

ISBN 10: 155553368X / ISBN 13: 9781555533687

Published by Northeastern Univ Press, Ithaca, New York, 1999

About this Item

Tight clean book in black cloth, unmarked but for name to ffep; dj just lightly rubbed. 399 pp with 11 illustrations.

Seller Inventory # 16717

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Remarkable Mrs. Ripley: The Life of Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley
• Publisher: Northeastern Univ Press, Ithaca, New York
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 155553368X
• ISBN 13: 9781555533687
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • All
  • Biography/Memoir
  • Women's Studies

About this title

Synopsis

A contemporary of Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and other New England Renaissance figures, Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley (1793-1867) is largely unknown to today's readers. Although she left no published works, Sarah is frequently mentioned in letters and journals written by her fellow intellectuals. She was a self-educated classical scholar who was well versed in languages and the sciences, ran a boarding school with her Unitarian minister husband to prepare boys for Harvard College, and raised seven children. Legend has it that she simultaneously rocked a cradle, shelled peas, heard one boy recite his Latin and another, his Greek.

In this first biography of the remarkable Mrs. Ripley, Joan W. Goodwin draws on both Sarah's letters and the writings of her contemporaries to paint as full a picture as possible of a compelling figure known until now only as a literary footnote. Goodwin reveals the inner drama of a woman's lonely struggle to reconcile the liberal Christian world view with her own increasing skepticism, and her traditional domestic role with the pursuit of intellectual attainments. The author's skillful presentation of primary materials allows Sarah to speak to the reader in her own voice, particularly through her correspondence with Mary Moody Emerson and Abigail Allyn Francis, lending insight into the anguish that shaped much of her life.

This is a captivating story that will appeal to historians and general readers alike.

About the Author

JOAN W. GOODWIN (1926-2006) was an independent scholar who worked for several years for the Unitarian Universalist Association.