[Rarebooks] Offering: From Dawn to Sunrise, 1876, Inscribed. Vermont Interest.

[Michael John Thompson]

SMITH, Mrs. J. Gregory [Ann Eliza (Brainerd) Smith, 1819 - 1905]

FROM DAWN TO SUNRISE: A Review, Historical and 
Philosophical, of the Religious Ideas of Mankind.

Rouses Point, NY: Lovell Printing and Publishing. 1876.

First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth 
stamped in black & gilt. 406 pp. The title leaf 
is a cancel, mounted on a stub. Inscribed by the 
author in pencil on the first blank leaf: "Mr 
B.A. Fifield / from the / authoress / Oct 1876". 
A touch of wear to the cloth at the corner tips, 
slightly later bookplate of Hall Park McCullough 
on inner front cover; overall a fine, bright 
copy. ¶  The author's first book, a collection of 
essays on the history of religion, with some 
emphasis on the cultures and beliefs of the antediluvian world.

$400.00 US.

The author was the daughter of Lawrence Brainerd 
and Fidelia B. Gadcombe. Lawrence Brainerd [1794 
- 1870] was a prominent Vermont businessman, 
abolitionist and United States Senator. She 
married John Gregory Smith [1818-1891], the civil 
war governor of Vermont. The town of Brainerd, 
Minnesota is named after Lawrence Brainerd and his daughter, Anne Eliza.

Upon publication, From Dawn to Sunrise was deemed 
"The smartest book ever written in Vermont" by 
Henry K. Adams, author of A Centennial History of 
St. Albans Vermont. Her second work was the novel 
Seola (1878) which was written as an antediluvian 
diary. In 1924 Seola was revised by an unknown 
author and was retitled as Angels and Women. The 
work has become renowned for its interest to the 
Jehovah's Witnesses, and has been recently reprinted.

The previous owner, Hall Park McCullough, was the 
grandson of Trenor Park and Laura Hall through 
their daughter Eliza Hall Park and John 
McCullough. Trenor Park was responsible for the 
building of Park-McCullough House in North 
Bennington, Vermont; it is considered one of the 
finest, most significant, and best preserved 
Victorian Mansions in New England, and is listed 
on the National Register of Historic Sites.

I can find no reference to the original recipient of the book, B.A. Fifield.

An image of the book can be found here:

http://www.mjtbooks.com/images/books/4579.jpg

Terms: as usual.

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Michael John Thompson
ABAC / ILAB
5275 Jerow Road
Hornby Island, BC
Canada V0R 1Z0
250-335-1182

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