What is Gentility? A Moral Tale

City of Washington: Published by Pishey Thompson, De Krafft, Printer, 1828 First edition. Very scarce. Though OCLC locates 20 physical copies, none are farther west than Texas and were probably acquired very early. . Recent dark blue cloth spine with grey paper boards, untrimmed. Maroon leather spine label with title in gilt lettering. . Twelvemo. . 257 pp. Ink signatures by contemporary owners on free endpapers and back paste-down endpaper. Light foxing throughout. A very good, though rebound copy. Margaret Bayard Smith (1778-1844) was a writer and political commentator. She lived in Washington D.C. with her husband, where they were part of the social and political elite during the Early Republic of the United States. Her husband, Samuel Harrison Smith, was a successful journalist, and Margaret began her writing career by publishing articles anonymously in his newspaper. Her position in D.C. gave her a unique perspective—her writing reassured readers that government officials, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were trustworthy. In the 1820s, Margaret began publishing books using her real name: A Winter in Washington (1824) and What is Gentility? (1825). Smith's published writing was not particularly controversial, but in her private journals she expressed frustration with the responsibilities of womanhood, particularly that she didn't have enough time to write after managing her household. Smith's writings, both published and unpublished, left an important legacy—scholars use her writing to better understand the political landscape of the Early Republic. (Inventory #: 17837)