The journal of Philadelphia Quaker Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker (1735-1807) is perhaps the single most significant personal record of eighteenth-century life in America from a woman's perspective. Drinker wrote in her diary nearly continuously between 1758 and 1807; from two years before her marriage to the night before her last illness. The extraordinary span and sustained quality of the journal make it a rewarding document for a multitude of historical purposes. One of the most prolific early American diarists—her journal runs to thirty-six manuscript volumes—Elizabeth Drinker saw English colonies evolve into the American nation while Drinker herself changed from a young unmarried woman into a wife; mother; and grandmother. Her journal entries touch on every contemporary subject political; personal; and familial.Focusing on different stages of Drinker's personal development within the domestic context; this abridged edition highlights four critical phases of her life cycle: youth and courtship; wife and mother; middle age in years of crisis; and grandmother and family elder. There is little that escaped Elizabeth Drinker's quill; and her diary is a delight not only for the information it contains but also for the way in which she conveys her world across the centuries.
#4010395 in Books 2002-02-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.06 x .0 x .0l; .0 #File Name: 812150029X343 pages
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