Portia: The World of Abigail Adams

266 Pages·1992·15.876 MB·English

by  Edith B. Gelles

|f \o/» OW a
T he W orld oj
j % t ~ y ■
- ’" o j f - ^
,V- J.' O- 3fr‘^ * 1
‘" V '-y r?
« ^ rt< J <

PORTIA
The World of Abigail Adams
EDITH B GE11E5
“'Hoc, an toe, is* tdte biography tfacar Abigail
Adfams k» Doing dftsmcd—oot that puds bar,
radtanr than few kwbaiKt aid its center, asrod
wfabdb httcipirm Iter Me fa light ©f both ks
ci^eeiofifaheemairy contoi and recent iiieinndt-
nitw scboiaesfclip. Gdles brings new insights to
fagnmllag topics tlte Adames marriage and
M&
Abigails wartime jofc; explains more fuDy
than previous scholars such incidents as the
failed courtship otf Royall TyleT and Abigail
Junior; and examines with sensitivity hitherto
fade-known episodes like that of AbtgaiTs
epistolary ffirtanoo with James Lovell during
the Revolution or Abigail Junior's mastec­
tomy in 1811. In short, this is a remarkable
achievement, far surpassing all earlier attempts
to capture the essence of the woman who
was one of early America’s greatest letter-
writers.”—Mary Beth Norton
“Edith Gelles has written a deeply interesting
book about Abigail Adams. ... she is careful
to reconstruct the eighteenth-century envi­
ronment of Abigail Adams. Dr. Gelles is a care­
ful historian of eighteenth-century America
and a thoughtful biographer. She has given us
a fresh examination of Abigail Adams which
will stimulate in helpful ways additional re­
search and discussion.”—Robert Middlekauf
“In this important and fascinating biography,
Edith Gelles not only restores Abigail Adams
to her rightful place at the center of her own
story, she challenges the creaky conventions
of‘traditional’ male-defined biography.
Portia
breaks ranks with the biographers twice—
by refusing to treat Abigail Adams as a reflec­
tion of her husband and by refusing to force
her life’s story into an artificially linear nar-
(continued on back flap)

PORTIA
This One
YTEl-PPC-A26

PORTIA
The W orld o f A bigail A dam s
EDITH B. GELLES
Indiana University Press
BLOOMINGTON & INDIANAPOLIS
01992 by Edith B. Gelles
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recoiding, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American
University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only
exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gelles, Edith Belle.
Portia : the world of Abigail Adams / Edith B. Gelles.
p cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-253-32553-6
1. Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818. 2. Presidents—United States—
Wives—Biography. 1. Title.
E322.1.A38G45 1992
973.4'4'092—dc20
[B]
92-7860
1 2 3 4 5 % 95 94 93 92