細節
STOWE, HARRIET BEECHER. Autograph letter signed ("HB Stowe") to Dr. Ralph Wardlaw, a Scottish abolitionist, Andover, U.S., 14 December 1852. 2 1/4 pages, 4to, 250 x 200mm (9 3/4 x 8 in.), on pale blue stationery, trifling foxing, tiny tears at fold intersections.
STOWE PUZZLES OVER THE FUROR SURROUNDING UNCLE TOM'S CABIN AND CALLS THE FACTS OF SLAVERY "DARKER & SADDER & MORE PAINFUL TO WRITE THAN THE FICTION"
In this very fine, typically self-deprecating letter, written just six months after the book publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe agrees to visit Scotland at the invitiation of Ralph Wardlaw, a congregationalist divine, internationally known for his theological writings and for his anti-slavery agitation. In 1838 he was presented to the Queen Victoria bearing an address from the women of Scotland petitioning for the abolition of colonial slavery. Stowe's enthusiastic response also expresses her personal interpretation for the remarkable success of her novel: "I was most deeply & gratefully touched by your kind letter, & by its certainly very unexpected contents -- That christian hearts in good old Scotland should turn so warmly towards me, seems to me like a dream, - yet it is no less a pleasant one - For myself I can claim no merit, in that work which has been the cause of this, - It was an instinctive irresisitible outburst & had no more mind in it than a mother's wailing for her first born - The success of the work so strange so utterly unexpected only astonishes me! - - I can only say that this bubble of my mind has risen on the mighty stream of a Divine Purpose - & even a bubble may go far on such a tide - I am much of my time pressed down with a heavy sadness - 'for the heart of the daughter of my people' - it is so horrible! - so sad - such a dishonor to Christ and his cause! - But again when I see that a Spirit above me is using this feeble book - choosing the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, then I have hope - Why has he given it this success unless He means some mercy to the cause? - Please say to those Christian friends who have sent me the invitation in your letter that I gladly accept it - tho [sic] when I get there [Scotland] I fear that they may be disappointed - I never was much to see - & now I am in feeble health - worn & weary - I am now putting thro [sic] the press another work - a key to Uncle Tom's Cabin containing all the facts & documents which confirm the story - both darker & sadder & more painful to write than the fiction was - I shall call heaven & Earth to witness for the deeds which have been done here! Alas that I should do it..." Letters of Harriet Beecher Stowe regarding Uncle Tom's Cabin are very rare.
STOWE PUZZLES OVER THE FUROR SURROUNDING UNCLE TOM'S CABIN AND CALLS THE FACTS OF SLAVERY "DARKER & SADDER & MORE PAINFUL TO WRITE THAN THE FICTION"
In this very fine, typically self-deprecating letter, written just six months after the book publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe agrees to visit Scotland at the invitiation of Ralph Wardlaw, a congregationalist divine, internationally known for his theological writings and for his anti-slavery agitation. In 1838 he was presented to the Queen Victoria bearing an address from the women of Scotland petitioning for the abolition of colonial slavery. Stowe's enthusiastic response also expresses her personal interpretation for the remarkable success of her novel: "I was most deeply & gratefully touched by your kind letter, & by its certainly very unexpected contents -- That christian hearts in good old Scotland should turn so warmly towards me, seems to me like a dream, - yet it is no less a pleasant one - For myself I can claim no merit, in that work which has been the cause of this, - It was an instinctive irresisitible outburst & had no more mind in it than a mother's wailing for her first born - The success of the work so strange so utterly unexpected only astonishes me! - - I can only say that this bubble of my mind has risen on the mighty stream of a Divine Purpose - & even a bubble may go far on such a tide - I am much of my time pressed down with a heavy sadness - 'for the heart of the daughter of my people' - it is so horrible! - so sad - such a dishonor to Christ and his cause! - But again when I see that a Spirit above me is using this feeble book - choosing the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, then I have hope - Why has he given it this success unless He means some mercy to the cause? - Please say to those Christian friends who have sent me the invitation in your letter that I gladly accept it - tho [sic] when I get there [Scotland] I fear that they may be disappointed - I never was much to see - & now I am in feeble health - worn & weary - I am now putting thro [sic] the press another work - a key to Uncle Tom's Cabin containing all the facts & documents which confirm the story - both darker & sadder & more painful to write than the fiction was - I shall call heaven & Earth to witness for the deeds which have been done here! Alas that I should do it..." Letters of Harriet Beecher Stowe regarding Uncle Tom's Cabin are very rare.