{"product_id":"letters-from-an-american-farmer-and-other-essays-9780674051812","title":"Letters from an American Farmer and Other Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLetters from an American Farmer\u003c\/i\u003e was published in London in 1782, just as the idea of an \"American\" was becoming a reality. Those epistolary essays introduced the European public to America's landscape and customs and have since served as the iconic description of a then-new people. Dennis D. Moore's convenient, up-to-date reader's edition situates those twelve pieces from the 1782 \u003ci\u003eLetters\u003c\/i\u003e in the context of thirteen other essays representative of Crèvecoeur's writings in English. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe \"American Farmer\" of the title is Crèvecoeur's fictional persona Farmer James, a bumpkin from rural Pennsylvania. In his Introduction to this edition, Moore places this self-effacing pose in perspective and charts Crèvecoeur's enterprising approach to self-promotion, which involved repackaging and adapting his writings for French and English audiences. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in Normandy, Crèvecoeur came to New York in the 1750s by way of England and then Canada, traveled throughout the colonies as a surveyor and trader, and was naturalized in 1765. The pieces he included in the 1782 \u003ci\u003eLetters\u003c\/i\u003e map a shift from hopefulness to disillusionment: its opening selections offer America as a utopian haven from European restrictions on personal liberty and material advancement but give way to portrayals of a land plagued by the horrors of slavery, the threat of Indian raids, and revolutionary unrest. This new edition opens up a broader perspective on this artful, ambitious writer and cosmopolitan thinker who coined America's most enduring metaphor: a place where \"individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e J. Hector St John de Crèvecoeur\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Belknap Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/14\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e John Harvard Library #49\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.50w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674051812","brand":"Belknap Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47463645544585,"sku":"9780674051812","price":43.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_4ee90e98-90d5-498d-b55a-a4689f5bc843.jpg?v=1784059648","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/letters-from-an-american-farmer-and-other-essays-9780674051812","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}