First thoughts

The Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party, two Continental Congresses and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the French Revolution and the War of 1812, the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson - all these events occurred during the lifetime of Abigail Adams. Adams, in a voluminous body of correspondence, recorded in vivid detail not only these historic events but also their effects on her community, her family, and herself.

Too often viewed narrowly as the wife of John Adams and the mother of John Quincy Adams, Abigail Adams was an important literary and historical figure in her own right. Her letters are filled with perceptive observations; they demonstrate great spontaneity, intelligence, and sincerity; and they depict in equal measure both the quotidian and the historic during the early years of the Republic.

Asserting that Abigail Adams's collected letters are "the best account that exists from the pre- to the post-Revolutionary period in America of a woman's life and world," Edith B. Gelles, a noted Adams expert and the author of Portia: The World of Abigail Adams, presents this first study to examine Adams's letters from the dual standpoints of biography and literary analysis.

Adopting a topical, episodic approach, Gelles highlights Adams's letter-writing persona while giving due recognition to her achievements as wife, mother, sister, daughter friend, and patriot.