The Diary of Emma LeConte by James E Kibler
SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD EMMA LECONTE, traversing the streets of Columbia, South Carolina, could scarcely have imagined that her daily path past Mary Chesnut's cottage would later connect her to another chronicler of history. While Chesnut was composing her renowned Civil War diary, Emma herself was meticulously documenting the tumultuous events unfolding around her in February 1865. In stark contrast to Chesnut, who fled the city as General Sherman's cannons reverberated through Columbia, Emma remained, providing a rare and invaluable eyewitness narrative of the city's invasion, sack, and burning by Federal forces. Her diary's immediacy and emotional clarity render a vivid tableau of devastation and human suffering, capturing, with remarkable intensity, an era defined by destruction and loss. This inaugural, fully annotated edition of Emma LeConte's diary presents her unaltered words, accompanied by nearly 50 illustrations that illuminate the locations and occurrences she so eloquently described. The scholarly apparatus affirms her remarkable precision as an observer and recorder of historical events. Beyond its documentary value, the diary offers profound insight into Emma's intellectual acumen and illuminates both her family's experiences and the rich prewar society of Columbia-a city her father, the distinguished scientist Joseph LeConte, esteemed as "the most pleasant and cultivated I have ever known," even when compared to such notable locales as Harvard (Cambridge, MA), Philadelphia, PA, Berkeley, CA, and Athens, GA.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781963506549 |
| ISBN 10 | 1963506545 |
| Title | The Diary of Emma LeConte |
| Author | James E Kibler |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Green Altar Books |
| Year published | 2026-02-25 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |