The Minister's Wooing by Harriet Beecher Stowe ~ First Edition / First Printing 1859 Publisher: Derby and Jackson, New York (1859)
First edition from 1859 of Stowe's "The Minister's Wooing." The boards and binding are solid and tight save for some light shelf-wear. The pages are crisp and clean save for previous owner's name, typed book title insert slip on the first blank page and a few small spots of foxing on the title page and corresponding blank page. Sporadic spot or two of light foxing on a few additional text pages. Please see below for more information and an overview of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "The Minister's Wooing."
The Minister's Wooing is a historical novel by Harriet
Beecher Stowe, first published in 1859. Set in 18th-century New England, the
novel explores New England history, highlights the issue of slavery, and
critiques the Calvinist theology in which Stowe was raised. Due to similarities
in setting, comparisons are often drawn between this work and Nathaniel
Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850). However, in contrast to Hawthorne's The
Scarlett Letter, The Minister's Wooing is a "sentimental romance";
its central plot revolves around courtship and marriage. Moreover, Stowe's
exploration of the regional history of New England deals primarily with the
domestic sphere, the New England response to slavery, and the psychological
impact of the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and disinterested
benevolence. With its intense focus upon the history, customs, and
mannerisms of New England, The Minister's Wooing is one sense an example of the
local color writing that proliferated in late 19th century. However, by
highlighting the issue of slavery, this time in the north, The Minister's
Wooing also represents a continuation of Stowe's earlier anti-slavery novels.
Finally, the work serves as a critique of Calvinism, written from the
perspective of an individual deeply familiar with the theological system.
Stowe's father was the well-known Calvinist minister Lyman Beecher, and Stowe
based many aspects of the novel upon events in the lives of herself and her older
sister Catharine's life. Throughout the novel, Stowe portrays the reaction of
different personality types to the pressures of Calvinist principles,
illustrating in this manner what she perceives as Calvinism's strengths and
weaknesses. In particular, responding to the untimely death of her sister's
fiancé and the death of two of her own children, Stowe addresses the issue of
predestination, the idea that individuals were either saved or damned, and only
the elect would go to heaven. [Wikipedia]
