Description: Dr. Alexander Hamilton and Provincial America: Expanding the Orbit of Scottish Culture by Elaine G. Breslaw. Signed first printing. Hardcover in very good condition. In this sweeping biography, Elaine G. Breslaw examines the life of Dr. Alexander Hamilton (1712-1756), a highly educated Scottish physician who immigrated to Maryland in 1738. From an elite European family, Hamilton was immediately confronted with the relatively primitive social milieu of the New World. He faced unfamiliar and challenging social institutions: the labor system that relied on black slaves, extraordinarily fluid social statuses, distasteful business methods, unpleasant conversational quirks, as well as variant habits of dress, food, and drink that required accommodation and, when possible, acceptance. Paradoxically, the more acclimated he became to Maryland ways, the greater his impulse to change that society and make it more satisfying for himself both emotionally and intellectually. Breslaw perceptively describes the ways in which Hamilton tried to transform the society around him, attempting to re-create the world he had left behind and thereby justify his continued residence in such an unsophisticated place. Hamilton, best known as the author of the Itinerarium -- a shrewd and insightful account of his journey through the colonies in 1744 -- also founded the Tuesday Club of Annapolis, promoted a local musical culture, and in his letters and essays, provided witty commentary on the American social experience. In addition to practicing medicine, Hamilton participated in local affairs, transporting to Maryland some of the rationalist ideas about politics, religion, and learning that were germinating in Scotland's early Enlightenment. As Breslaw explains, Hamilton's writings tell us that those adopted ideas were given substance and vitality in the New World long before the revolutionary crises. Throughout her narrative, Breslaw usefully sets Hamilton's life in both Scotland and America against the background of the major political, military, religious, social, and economic events of his time. The largely forgotten story of a fascinating, cosmopolitan, and complex Scotsman, Dr. Alexander Hamilton and Provincial America illuminates our understanding of elites as they navigated their eighteenth-century world. Please examine all of the photographs carefully. Proceeds to the Blount County Friends of the Library to benefit the Blount County Public Library in Maryville, Tennessee. Thank you for visiting our store! bh
Price: 23.24 USD
Location: Maryville, Tennessee
End Time: 2024-09-11T14:31:57.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Signed by: Elaine Breslaw
Personalized: No
Educational Level: Adult & Further Education
Features: 1st Edition, Dust Jacket, Illustrated
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Number of Pages: 368 Pages
Publication Name: Dr. Alexander Hamilton and Provincial America : Expanding the Orbit of Scottish Culture
Language: English
Publisher: LSU
Subject: Modern / 18th Century, United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, De, Md, NJ, NY, Pa), Europe / Great Britain / Scotland, General, Historical, United States / General
Publication Year: 2008
Item Height: 0.9 in
Item Weight: 12.3 Oz
Type: Textbook
Item Length: 9 in
Author: Elaine G. Breslaw
Subject Area: Biography & Autobiography, History
Item Width: 6 in
Series: Southern Biography Ser.
Format: Hardcover
