The cultural work of the late nineteenth-century hostess : Annie Adams Fields and Mary Gladstone Drew / Susan K. Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, Susan K., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fields, Annie, 1834-1915--Books and reading.

Fields, Annie.

Drew, Mary Gladstone, 1847-1927--Books and reading.

Drew, Mary Gladstone.

Fields, Annie, 1834-1915.

Drew, Mary Gladstone, 1847-1927.

Books and reading--United States--History--19th century.

Books and reading.

Hospitality.

History.

Entertaining.

Group reading.

Friends and associates.

United States.

Drew, Mary Gladstone, 1847-1927--Friends and associates.

Books and reading--England--History--19th century.

Fields, Annie, 1834-1915--Friends and associates.

Boston (Mass.)--Intellectual life--19th century.

Boston (Mass.).

England--Intellectual life--19th century.

England.

Intellectual life.

Group reading--History--19th century.

Entertaining--History--19th century.

Hospitality--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

x, 192 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Summary:

The Cultural Work of the Late Nineteenth-Century Hostess explores the influence upper-class, socially engaged women had on literary and political culture in the US and in England in the years 18701920. Harris focuses on Annie Adams Fields and Mary Gladstone Drew, two well-known hostesses who entertained the leading figures of their day. Both kept journals and wrote letters in which they recorded their conversations. These records exhibit the impact such women had on the cultural life of their times and show how the skills acquired as hostesses in the 19th century facilitated their entry into the public arena in the 20th. The book shows how Fields and Gladstone negotiated alliances, won over key figures to their parties' designs, and fought to develop major cultural institutions ranging from the Organization of Boston Charities to London's Royal College of Music.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [181]-186) and index.

ISBN:

0312295294

OCLC:

49672535