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Anonymous; Peckham, Howard (Introduction) : Wayside Sketches: Narrative of a Journey in 1843, Now First Published from the Manuscript for the Clements Library Associates

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1967

Original publisher's red wrappers with staple binding. 6 1/8" x 9 1/8." Twenty-nine pages, complete. Pages and covers are very clean and intact. A few minuscule wrinkles on the covers. A Fine copy. A reprint of a manuscript originally written in 1843 with an introduction by Director Howard H. Peckham. Excerpt from the Introduction: "A trip from New York City across northern New Jersey, over the Pocono ridge of Pennsylvania, then up into the Finger Lakes region and back via the Hudson RIver was scarcely an exploring expedition in the 1840s. Indeed, it could be undertaken by two young misses, chaperoned by another couple, for pleasure. It provided an encounter with several modes of travel in the transportation revolution of the times--stage coach, lake ferry, canal boat, railroad, and river steamboat--as well as several types of hotel or inn. The inconveniences endured and expected by this holiday party seem to contradict its purpose. These revelations along with the writer's observations constitute social history of charm and value. But what gives the narrative its readability is its unexpected literary style. The unknown authoress was educated, urbane, observant, witty, and critical of rustic manners without condescension. She entitled her essay "Wayside Sketches." We lament her anonymity, but the manuscript was acquired by itself in 1939, a gift to the Clements Library from Mrs. Rene Talamon. ... Although the work is undated, as well as unsigned, internal evidence rather clearly indicated that the vacation journey was made in September of 1843.". Book. Book Condition: Fine. Binding: Soft cover

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