Description
Book SynopsisA collection of letters by Mary Penry (1735–1804), who immigrated to America from Wales and lived in Moravian communities for more than forty years. Offers a sustained view of the spiritual and social life of a single woman in early America.
Trade Review“A thoroughly astonishing record of a woman’s life, work, and thought in the age of the American Revolution. Gordon’s careful editing, detailed notes, and engaging introduction bring Mary Penry to life and make it easy to slip into a long-past world. This source adds an essential work to the corpus of women’s writings from the eighteenth century. It will be prized by scholars and readers alike for a long time to come.”
—Katherine Carté,author of Religion and Profit: Moravians in Early America
“Mary Penry’s letters as edited and introduced by Scott Paul Gordon offer a valuable glimpse into one woman’s experiences in early America, but this particular woman’s letters illuminate an unexpected and unique range of perspectives on eighteenth-century life. An unmarried woman living in the women’s community of a Moravian choir house, Penry engaged for more than half a century with forms of life writing, leaving a fascinating epistolary record of her experiences and beliefs.”
—Theresa Gaul,editor of Cherokee Sister: The Collected Writings of Catharine Brown, 1818–1823
“The letters of Mary Penry provide a unique and insightful perspective on early American history. Scott Gordon has rescued this remarkable female author from obscurity in a volume that should expand the canon of American literature.”
—Craig Atwood,author of Community of the Cross: Moravian Piety in Colonial Bethlehem
“Scott Paul Gordon has done early American historians an enormous favor in providing a meticulously transcribed and annotated edition of the letters of Mary Penry (1735–1804).”
—Susan Klepp Pennsylvania History
“Mediated through Gordon’s meticulous editing and archival work, The Letters of Mary Penry successfully contributes to both our expanding understanding of female experiences in early America and our understanding of the emergence of evangelical spirituality in a way that complements studies focused on other contexts, such as New England.”
—Jared S. Burkholder Journal of Moravian History
Table of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
AcknowledgmentsGenealogical ChartsEditorial NoteAbbreviationsIntroductionLettersAppendix A: Mary Penry’s MemoirAppendix B: Mary Attwood’s MemoirAppendix C: The Stocker and Drinker Families Appendix D: Business Correspondence 275BibliographyIndex
