George Washington's Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Curtis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851 [SIGNED COPY]

Brady, Patricia (Editor)

ISBN 10: 1570036314 / ISBN 13: 9781570036316

Published by University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, 1991

About this Item

SIGNED by the author on the title page. Eleanor Lewis was George Washington's adopted granddaughter who was aquainted with most of the Virginia aristocracy as well as the leaders in the Revolution and the early years of the new nation. These letters written over a period of years to her life-long friend Elizabeth Gibson provide a glimpse into her own life as well as the lives of those who formed the early nation. Contains an index and a bibliographical references in the rear. Original publisher's black covers with white spine lettering. This is a nice clean, tight and unmarked book with no interior or exterior markings, no previous owner names and no bookplates. The dust jacket has a light scratch to the rear panel over the bar code, else it is in similarly nice condition with no chips, tears, or markings. The dust jacket is now in a protective, removable, acetate cover. (This is the original 1991 printing--and presumed first edition--not the later 2006 edition) ; Women's Diaries and Letters of the Nineteenth-Century South Series; 8vo, 8"- 9" tall; 287 pages; Signed by Author.

Seller Inventory # 21410

Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Washington's Beautiful Nelly: The Letters of Eleanor Parke Curtis Lewis to Elizabeth Bordley Gibson, 1794-1851 [SIGNED COPY]
• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1570036314
• ISBN 13: 9781570036316
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

An intimate portrait of the first "first family" from the vantage of Washington's adopted daughter

Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (1779-1852) was in many ways the quintessential southern lady, but as Martha Washington's granddaughter by her first marriage and George Washington's adopted daughter, she was also something of an American celebrity. Her lifelong correspondence with childhood friend Elizabeth Bordley Gibson records the experiences of the first family, the social and political gossip of the new republic's elite circle, and the difficulties of motherhood and marriage. Edited by Patricia Brady, the voluminous and unguarded letters also reveals the complex cast of family and friends associated with the Washington household, the details of plantation life, and the social limitations placed on even the most privileged eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women. This edition features an updated introduction from Brady.

About the Author

Patricia Brady is author of Martha Washington: An American Life and editor of Nelly Custis Lewis's Housekeeping Book and Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists, 1718–1918. Brady holds a Ph.D. in history from Tulane University and served for twenty years as director of publications at the Historic New Orleans Collection. She lives in New Orleans.