Overview

Writing Home offers readers a firsthand account of the life of Emma Alderson, an otherwise unexceptional English immigrant on the Ohio frontier in mid-nineteenth-century America, who documented the five years preceding her death with astonishing detail and insight. Her convictions as a Quaker offer unique perspectives on racism, slavery, and abolition; the impending war with Mexico; presidential elections; various religious and utopian movements; and the practices of everyday life in a young country. Introductions and notes situate the letters in relation to their critical, biographical, literary, and historical contexts. Editor Donald Ulin discusses the relationship between Alderson's letters and her sister Mary Howitt's Our Cousins in Ohio (1849), a remarkable instance of transatlantic literary collaboration. Writing Home offers an unparalleled opportunity for studying immigrant correspondence due to Alderson's unusually well-documented literary and religious affiliations. The notes and introductions provide background on nearly all the places, individuals, and events mentioned in the letters. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.

Full Product Details

Author:   Donald Ingram Ulin ,  Emma Alderson
Publisher:   Bucknell University Press,U.S.
Imprint:   Bucknell University Press,U.S.
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.912kg
ISBN:  

9781684481965

ISBN 10:   1684481961
Pages:   548
Publication Date:   16 October 2020
Recommended Age:   From 18 to 99 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Illustrations Abbreviations Preface Introduction Friends and Family Final Years in England Letters, Authorship, and Transnational Modernity Editorial Practices and Principles I. Leaving home: the Shenandoah, across the Alleghenies, the First Winter Six Weeks at Sea Across the Alleghenies American Friends The Botany of Home Letters (1842 to 1843) 1. To Unknown, July 8, 1942 2. To Ann Botham, August 17, 1842 3. To Ann Botham and Mary Howitt, September 1842 4. To Ann Botham and Anna Harrison, October 7, 1842 5. To Anna Harrison and Daniel Harrison, November 30, 1842 6. To Ann Botham, January 16, 1843 to February 24, 1843 7. To Mary Harrison and Margaret Ann Harrison, March 27, 1843 8. To Ann Botham, April 7, 1843 to April 16, 1843 9. To Ann Botham, May 16, 1843 to May 28, 1843 II. A Home of their Own: First Years at Cedar Lodge Pittsburgh to Cincinnati by Steamboat Landscapes: Beauty and More Botany Becoming (and Unbecoming) Americans Family and Friends Friends and the Great Separations Letters 1843 to 1845 10. To Anna Harrison and Daniel Harrison, June 1843 11. To Ann Botham, July 25, 1843 12. To Ann Botham, September 6, 1843 13. To Mary Howitt, October 3, 1843 14. To Ann Botham, October 29, 1843 to November 14, 1843 15. To Anna Harrison, November 20, 1843 to December 1, 1843 16. To Ann Botham, December 31, 1843 17. To Ann Botham, January 28, 1844 to March 9, 1844 18. To Ann Botham, April 22, 1844 to May 6, 1844 19. To Ann Botham, May 19, 1844 to June 14, 1844 20. To Ann Botham, June 2, 1844 to July 24, 1844 21. To Anna Harrison, September 2, 1844 to September 13, 1844 22. To Mary Howitt, October 13, 1844 23. To Ann Botham, October 24, 1844 24. To Ann Botham, December 1, 1844 to December 26, 1844 25. To Mary Howitt, January 20, 1845 26. To Ann Botham, March 7, 1845 to May 27, 1844 27. To Ann Botham, April 4, 1845 28. To Ann Botham, May 21, 1845 29. To Anna Mary Howitt, June 10, 1845 30. To Anna Harrison, July 19, 1845 31. To Ann Botham, September 13, 1845 32. To Ann Botham, October 1845 32. To Ann Botham, October 1845 33. To Ann Botham, October 25, 1845 34. To Anna Harrison, November 5, 1845 35. To Ann Botham, November 1845 to December 24, 1845 36. William Howitt, December 28, 1845 III. The Final Years Race and Racism in America Becoming an Author The End Letters 1846-1847 37. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, January 1, 1846 to January 8, 1846 38. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, January 9, 1846 to January 20, 1846 39. To Mary Howitt, February 15, 1846 to February 21, 1846 39. To Mary Howitt, February 15, 1846 to February 21, 1846 40. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, January 28, 1846 to March 2, 1846 41. To Ann Botham, March 23, 1846 42. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, March 2, 1846 to March 26, 1846 42. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, March 2, 1846 to March 26, 1846 43. To Margaret and Herbert Howitt, April 1, 1846 to April 16, 1846 44. To Mary Howitt, April 18, 1846 to May 18, 1846 44. To Mary Howitt, May 1, 1846 to May 18, 1846 45. To Ann Botham, May 3, 1846 to May 18, 1846 46. To Mary Howitt, May 14, 1846 to June 14, 1846 46. To Mary Howitt, May 15, 1846 to June 14, 1846 47. To Mary Howitt, June 30, 1846 to July 11, 1846 48. To Anna Harrison, June 26, 1846 to July 15, 1846 49. To Ann Botham, July 12, 1846 50. To Mary Howitt, July 13, 1846 to June 27, 1846 51. To Mary Howitt, August 2, 1846 to August 15, 1846 52. To Mary Howitt, August 1846 to September 21, 1846 52. To Mary Howitt, August 1846 to September 21, 1846 53. To Ann Botham, September 21, 1846 54. To Ann Botham, September 1846 55. To Mary Howitt, September 27 1846 to October 20, 1846 56. To Mary Howitt, October 24, 1846 to November 20, 1846 56. To Mary Howitt, October 24, 1846 to November 20, 1846 57. To Anna Harrison, November 1846 58. To Ann Botham, November 24, 1846 59. To Ann Botham, December 20, 1846 60. To Mary Howitt, November 29, 1846 to December 25, 1846 61. To Mary Howitt, February 2, 1847 62. To Mary Howitt, February 21, 1847 to October 7, 1847 63. To Mary Harrison and Margaret Ann Harrison, March 20, 1847 64. To Ann Botham, March 1847 65. To Ann Botham, April 10, 1847 to April 20, 1847 66. To Ann Botham, May 23, 1847 67. To Ann Botham, June 1847 to July 1847 68. To Mary Howitt, July 23, 1847 69. To Mary Howitt and Ann Botham, July 24, 1847 70. To Anna Harrison, August 24, 1847 71. To Mary Howitt, October 1847 72. To Ann Botham, October 9, 1847 73. To Mary Howitt, November 23, 1847 74. To Mary Howitt and William Howitt, December 1847 75. To Ann Botham and William Howitt, December 18, 1847 Epilogue Cedar Lodge The Aldersons and their Descendants The Harrisons and their Descendants The Howitts and their Descendants Joseph Taylor and Family Appendix 1. Physical and Postal Attributes Appendix 2. Directory of Names Bibliography Index  

Reviews

"""Emma Botham Alderson, author of this important collection of letters, is an unusually articulate, observant, and skilled writer, who brings to life the courage and ingenuity of America’s nineteenth-century English settlers. Such records are of special significance in our own time, when many are sadly unappreciative of the hardships and heartbreak of the immigrant experience. Donald Ulin provides a wealth of well-researched material to help us better understand the text and its historical context."" -- Paula Feldman * co-editor of The Collected Poetry of Mary Tighe * ""Emma Botham Alderson, an English Quaker woman setting out on a new life in the United States, was an acute and sensitive observer of life in the Ohio Valley in the 1840s. Her letters to family back in England are filled with observations on everything from landscapes to politics to slavery and antislavery to Quaker peculiarities. We are fortunate that they have survived, and fortunate that they have found such a skilled and thorough editor in Donald Ulin."" -- Tom Hamm * editor of Quaker Writings: An Anthology, 1650-1920 * ""Bucknell University Press must be highly congratulated for fulfilling so successfully the role of an academic press (no surprise for Bucknell) and not shrinking this volume to a slender market piece. The book contains Ulin’s full scholarly apparatus of endnotes, an appendix of the physical and postal attributes of the letters, an appendix of names, a rich bibliography, and a detailed index. Ulin and Bucknell University Press have demonstrated the highest standard of academic publishing. This book is worth every penny and is something to write home about."" * Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies * ""The letters are a wonderful window into Alderson's experiences...The editorial sections are tremendously insightful and valuable. Ulin has completed a lot of research about all manner of aspects of Alderson's life and context."" * Quaker Studies *"

Emma Botham Alderson, an English Quaker woman setting out on a new life in the United States, was an acute and sensitive observer of life in the Ohio Valley in the 1840s. Her letters to family back in England are filled with observations on everything from landscapes to politics to slavery and antislavery to Quaker peculiarities. We are fortunate that they have survived, and fortunate that they have found such a skilled and thorough editor in Donald Ulin. --Tom Hamm editor of Quaker Writings: An Anthology, 1650-1920 Emma Botham Alderson, author of this important collection of letters, is an unusually articulate, observant, and skilled writer, who brings to life the courage and ingenuity of America's nineteenth-century English settlers. Such records are of special significance in our own time, when many are sadly unappreciative of the hardships and heartbreak of the immigrant experience. Donald Ulin provides a wealth of well-researched material to help us better understand the text and its historical context. --Paula Feldman co-editor of The Collected Poetry of Mary Tighe

Author Information

EMMA BOTHAM ALDERSON (1806-1847) was a Quaker woman who immigrated to Ohio from Liverpool, England, in 1842, with her husband and other family members. She was the sister of Mary Howitt, popular poet, translator, and author of books for children and young adults. DONALD INGRAM ULIN is an associate professor and director of English at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in Pennsylvania and has published articles on a wide variety of topics, including literary pedagogy, Charles Darwin, film adaptations of Huckleberry Finn, and the nineteenth-century invention of an English countryside.

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