Growing up with Books: Fanny Seward's Book Collecting, Reading, and Writing in Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York State

Abstract

During her short life (1844–66) Fanny Seward, daughter of Lincoln's secretary of state, William Henry Seward, spent considerable time and energy on her personal library, her diaries, and her creative writing. Fanny Seward's reading was, she suggests in her writing, her dearest pleasure. In her diaries she included lists of books acquired and read, critical remarks on them, and fragments of prose and poetry reflecting her deepening knowledge of literature. This case study of a privileged girl in New York State during the American Civil War years explores interconnections among the many bookish strands in her life and social circle.