How Visitors Viewed Early America

In the 347 pages of ABROAD IN AMERICA: VISITORS TO THE NEW NATION 1776-1914, the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution highlights observations of European, South American, Asian, and African visitors to the United States during the first century-and-a-half of its existence as a nation. The twenty-nine essays written by foreign writers, each discussing a compatriot's journey to the New World, and by American specialists in the cultures of other travelers, trace across time and from many vantage points the emergence of this country.

After his first visit to America in 1842, Charles Dickens wrote, ‘I do fear that the heaviest blow ever dealt at liberty will be dealt by this country in the failure of its example to the earth.’ A quarter of a century later, during his second visit, Dickens withheld such absolute judgments and said instead of the country: ‘It is a good sign, may be, that it all seems immensely more difficult to understand than it was when I was here before.’

Among others whose words and experiences are included: de Tocqueville, Fanny Kemble, Manjiro, Clemenceau, Jose Marti, Dvorak, Swami Vivekananda, Sholom Aleichem, H.G. Wells and more. Photographs, illustrations, and a complete bibliography highlight the book.

Whether America can yet be what the founding fathers intended, and immigrants before and since have dreamed it would be, remains to be seen. However, so long as change is possible, the promise lives. ‘Hope, the great divinity,’ John Butler Yeats believed, ‘is domiciled in America.’

Unusual (and somewhat difficult to find), this softcover book is in Very Good condition, with only slight bumping of the cover corners. Inside pages show no apparent defects. (6062)

Publisher: Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0201000318  

Alien Americans - 1930s Observations B.Schrieke, an impartial Dutch observer, spent the months from October, 1934 to May 1935 traveling the U.S. to document race relations in the country. ALIEN AMERICANS, A STUDY OF RACE RELATIONS was the result of his work, published in 1936 in what appears to be a FIRST EDITION by The Viking Press, New York.

Chapters in the 208-page hardbound book cover his view of the Chinese and Japanese in California; Mexicans and Indians; the South and the Negro; Negro Education; Prejudice or Progress; and, in the appendix, a note on Filipino Immigration. Quite an eclectic range of subjects, but well pulled-together and fascinating reading!

The book, which is ex lib with the usual library markings, is in Very Good condition. There is light wear on the cover corners/edges/spine ends. Inside pages show slight yellowing, but all are tightly bound, complete and readable. The book is difficult to find in today’s marketplace, with only a few now available. If you collect immigration or ethnic records of the early years of the 20th century, this is a nice one! (3651)