Synopsis
Albion Winegar Tourgee (1838-1905), also wrote under the pseudonym Henry Churton, was an American soldier, Radical Republican, lawyer, judge, novelist, and diplomat. A pioneer civil rights activist, he founded the National Citizens' Rights Association and litigated for the plaintiff Homer Plessy in the famous segregation case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, in April of the same year he enlisted in the 27th New York Infantry. In 1863, Tourgee was captured at the Battle of Stones River and was held for six months as a prisoner-of-war in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, before his release and parole. After the war, Tourgee established himself as a lawyer, farmer, and editor in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he and his wife moved so he could live in a warmer climate better suited to his war injuries. In 1881, he moved to Mayville, New York, near the Chautauqua Institution, and made his living as writer and editor of the literary weekly Our Continent until it failed in 1884. His works include: 'Toinette (also titled: A Royal Gentleman) (1874), Figs and Thistles (1879) and Bricks Without Straw (1880).
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Review
The editor, John Hope Franklin has written a "helpful introduction [in which he] indicates the relevance of Tourgee's hook to the history of the time. Professor Franklin and his publisher are to be commended. They have made a significant hook easily available, and in a much more attractive and readable format than that of any previous edition."
First published in 1879, "A Fool's Errand" created much interest among readers and literary critics of the day and enjoyed, for a novel, a remarkable sale of some 200,000 copies. It is the story of Comfort Servosse, a Union officer, who at the end of the Civil War decides to make his home in the South. The author tells of Servosse's reception there and the difficulties he and his family encounter in the trying years of Reconstruction, a portrait of these tragic years, the novel is especially interesting.
Among the many admirable reprints issued by the John Harvard Library; one of the most welcome and attractive is this one-time best selling novel. Written by a carpetbagger following fourteen trying years (1865-1879) in the South, "A Fool's Errand" not only reveals the thoughts of a carpetbagger on southern Reconstruction, but it remains one of the more perceptive descriptions of that puzzling fiasco as well as an enjoyable fictional tale. Professor Franklin's introductory vignette satisfactorily establishes the author's identity and the historical and ideological significance of his work... "A Fool's Errand" is a significant and unusually original portrayal, criticism, and analysis of postwar southern society... it also offers excitement, idealism, and romance.
About the Author
Albion W. Tourgee was born in Williamsfield, Ohio, in 1838, attended the University of Rochester, and saw intermittent action (1861-1863) in the Union Army during the Civil Way. After his discharge he studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1864, and when the war ended, he settled in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he soon rose to prominence, as judge and as outspoken opponent of the anti-Reconstructionists. He left the state in 1879. Among his published works are Toinette (1874), Figs and Thistles (1879), Bricks Without Straw (1880), John Eax (1882), and Hot Plowshares (1883). He died in 1903 while serving as American consul in Bordeaux.
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A Fool's Errand
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A Fool's Errand
Seller: CorgiPack, Fulton, NY, U.S.A.
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Very nice and clean. Text free of highlighting and writing. Tightly bound. Albion Winegar Tourgee (1838-1905), also wrote under the pseudonym Henry Churton, was an American soldier, Radical Republican, lawyer, judge, novelist, and diplomat. A pioneer civil rights activist, he founded the National Citizens' Rights Association and litigated for the plaintiff Homer Plessy in the famous segregation case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, in April of the same year he enlisted in the 27th New York Infantry. In 1863, Tourgee was captured at the Battle of Stones River and was held for six months as a prisoner-of-war in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, before his release and parole. After the war, Tourgee established himself as a lawyer, farmer, and editor in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he and his wife moved so he could live in a warmer climate better suited to his war injuries. In 1881, he moved to Mayville, New York, near the Chautauqua Institution, and made his living as writer and editor of the literary weekly Our Continent until it failed in 1884. His works include: 'Toinette (also titled: A Royal Gentleman) (1874), Figs and Thistles (1879) and Bricks Without Straw (1880). 418 pages. Seller Inventory # 073485