The Diaries of John Quincy Adams 1779-1848: A Library of

The Diaries of John Quincy Adams 1779-1848: A Library of America Boxed Set

For the 250th anniversary of John Quincy Adams's birth, a landmark newÂ selectedÂ edition of an American masterpiece:Â the incomparable self-portrait of a man and his times from the Revolution toÂ the coming of the Civil War.

The diary of John Quincy Adams is one of the most extraordinary works inÂ American literature. Begun in 1779 at the age of twelve and kept more or lessÂ faithfully until his death almost 70 years later, and totaling some fifteen thousand closely-written manuscript pages, it is both an unrivaled record ofÂ historical events and personalities from the nation's founding to the antebellumÂ era and a masterpiece of American self-portraiture, tracing the spiritual, literary,Â and scientific interests of an exceptionally lively mind.Â Now, for the 250thÂ anniversary of Adams's birth, Library of America and historian David WaldstreicherÂ present a two-volume reader's edition of diary selections based for the first time on the originalÂ manuscripts, restoring personal and revealing passages suppressed inÂ earlier editions.

Volume I begins during the American Revolution, with Adams's first entry, as heÂ prepares to embark on a perilous wartime voyage to Europe with his father,Â diplomat John Adams, and records his early impressions of Franklin and JeffersonÂ and of Paris on the eve of revolution; it details his abbreviated but eventful yearsÂ of study at Harvard and his emergence into the world of politics in his own right,Â as American minister to the Netherlands and to Prussia, and then as a U. S.Â senator from Massachusetts; and it reveals a young man at war with his passions,Â before finding love with the remarkable Louisa Catherine Johnson. In passagesÂ that form a kind of real-world War and Peace, the diary follows the young marriedÂ couple to St. Petersburg, where as U.S. minister Adams is a witness to Napoleon'sÂ invasion of Russia. Its account of the negotiations at Ghent to end the War ofÂ 1812, where Adams leads the American delegation, is the perhaps the mostÂ detailed and dramatic picture of a diplomatic confrontation ever recorded. VolumeÂ 1 concludes with his elevation as Secretary of State under James Monroe, as heÂ takes the fore in a fractious cabinet and emerges as the principal architect of whatÂ will become known as the Monroe Doctrine.

Volume 2 opens with the political maneuverings within and outside Monroe's cabinet to become his successor, a process that culminates in Adams's election to the presidency by the House ofÂ Representatives after the deadlocked four-way contest of 1824. Even as Adams takes the oath of office, rivals Henry Clay, hisÂ Secretary of State, John C. Calhoun, his vice president, and an embittered Andrew Jackson, eyeÂ the election of 1828. The diary records in candid detail his frustration as hisÂ far-sighted agenda for national improvement founders on the rocks of internecineÂ political factionalism, conflict that results in his becoming only the secondÂ president, with his father, to fail to secure reelection. After a short-livedÂ retirement, Adams returns to public service as a Congressman fromÂ Massachusetts, and for the last seventeen years of his life he leads efforts to resistÂ the extension of slavery and to end the notorious "gag rule" that stifles debate onÂ the issue in Congress. In 1841 he further burnishes his reputation as a scourge ofÂ the Slave Power by successfully defending African mutineers of the slave shipÂ Amistad before the Supreme Court. The diary achieves perhaps its greatest force inÂ itsÂ prescient anticipation of the Civil War and Emancipation, an "object," as AdamsÂ described it during the Missouri Crisis,Â "vast in its compass, awful in its prospects, sublime and beautiful in its issue."

LIBRARY OF AMERICAÂ is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nationâ€™s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, Americaâ€™s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
Country USA
Brand Library of America
Manufacturer Library of America
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber 2 Volumes
Color White
ReleaseDate 2017-06-20
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781598535211

Country	USA
Brand	Library of America
Manufacturer	Library of America
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	2 Volumes
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2017-06-20
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781598535211

The Diaries of John Quincy Adams 1779-1848: A Library of America Boxed Set

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