PIONE

Number Six.

Dr. Drake's Pioneer Life in Kentucky.

IONEER LIFE IN KENTUCKY: A Series of REMINISCENTIAL LETTERS addressed to his Children. By DR. Daniel Drake. Edited with Notes and a Biographical Sketch by his son, HoN. CHARLES D. DRAKE, of Missouri.

One volume, 8vo., pp. xlvi. and 263, finely printed on tinted paper, and neatly bound in cloth extra, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut edges. Price, $3.00.

A few large-paper copies have been printed on heavy tinted paper. Portrait on India paper. Cloth, gilt top and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $6.00.

Much has been said and written of the warlike and adventurous aspects of Pioneer Life in the West; but these Letters are believed to be the only attempt at a detailed description of its more peaceful phases, and as such may be considered a valuable as well as peculiar contribution to American literature.

Pioneer life still follows our Western border; but going with the railroad and the telegraph, it is a pastime to what such life was in the last century. As the old-time period recedes from view, its interest increases. If its events were such as might be expected, substantially, to repeat themselves, they are historical guide-posts to succeeding generations; if, however, they belong to conditions, which, in the nature of things, may not be looked for again, they, at least, stimulate inquiry into, and aid in the study of, the character of the people among whom they occurred. In this view, if no other, these letters may be considered to have an appreciable value.

They portray with equal vividness the character of pioneer life, the character of the pioneer boy and the character of the "old man”—as in them he calls himself—who, in describing that life and that boy, unconsciously photographed himself as he was when he wrote: all done with a frankness which invites confidence, a freshness which arrests and rewards attention,

and a truthfulness which claims belief. This triple portraiture, not often found in such sharpness of outline and fidelity of detail as in these letters, can not fail to interest the reader.

They were not designed as a literary performance; they were merely the off-hand, familiar talk of a father to his children, and as such, while they may not claim exemption from criticism, their freedom from literary pretension may, at least, somewhat turn its edge.

Those who knew Dr. Drake will recognize in the portrait accompanying this volume an animated and faithful likeness.

[From the Atlantic Monthly.]

"Dr. Drake was a man who, while he lived, was a large part of all literary and scientific progress in the West, and who left behind him a repute for public usefulness and private worth which his own section may well cherish with pride, and which we may all gladly recognize. He was a very remarkable man in every way-for what he was and for what he did; and the story of his boyhood in the backwoods of Kentucky, as told here, is one of the best witnesses to the fact that, whatever refinement may be, fineness is as directly the gift of heaven as any positive ability. Civilization, you must own as you read, was born in this man; by nature he hated whatever was rude and cruel and impure, and loved justice and beauty. He was not a man of genius, it would seem, but of sensibility and conscience and modesty; not smart in the pitiable, bad way of many of our growths from the people,' but talented, tasteful, industrious, honest. * * * The letters of Dr. Drake are not merely personal reminiscences, but faithful pictures of local manners and customs. We can not advise any to turn to them for the realization of romantic ideas of the pioneers; but they are very interesting reading and very instructive; they form part of our own history, which daily grows more remarkable and precious; and we most heartily commend the volume, not only to collectors of such material, but to the average reader, as something very apt for his entertainment and then for his use. The biographical sketch by Mr. Charles D. Drake is satisfactory, and the preface is a singularly sensible piece of writing."

[From the Cincinnati Commercial.]

"The series of letters now published were written in the later years of his useful life, and offer graphic pictures of pioneer life in Kentucky and Ohio during the first quarter of the century. There is just enough personal incident to give the letters piquancy, and make them agreeable as well as profitable reading. A fine steel, live portrait accompanies the volume, which is printed in the best style of typographical art."

[From the Methodist Recorder.]

"We have found these reminiscences unusually instructive and entertaining. Dr. Drake's pen-pictures of the early times in Kentucky, the hardships, trials, joys, and associations of pioneer life among the Indians and forests, are exquisitely drawn and truly colored. His memories of childhood; the journey from New Jersey across the Alleghenies, in road wagons, to Old Red Stone Fort, where the family embarked in a flat-boat for Mayslick, Kentucky; the long and tedious experience of the river, with exposure to the savages all along the banks, the scanty stores of provision on which to begin the new life in the wilderness; the manner of clearing the ground, cultivating corn, manufacturing various articles of domestic utility, spinning, weaving, fulling; the huskings, sugar camps, wild grape hunting; the thousand scenes and chores of backwoods' life, are indeed the most enjoyable of pages for a winter evening by the fireside.

"Dr. Drake was an eminent practitioner in Cincinnati in maturer life, a thorough scholar, a Christian philanthropist, and Cincinnati's helper to many an institution of permanent value."

[From the Nation.]

"We can neither dwell as we should like upon the character of Dr. Drake, as briefly sketched by his son, nor upon his own reminiscences, with which the volume is chiefly occupied. Of the former, it is enough to say that he was remarkable for public spirit, took broad views of the future of his adopted State and city, and was, as his works testify, a student of many things outside of his profession, though more or less related to it. He seems to have been always sensible of his defective education, and took every occasion to impress upon those who destined their sons to medicine, the importance of early intellectual discipline. The account of his boyhood is well worth reading and rereading, in order to realize accurately the pioneer backwoods' life of his day. It is singularly minute in its details and yet comprehensive, and at the close one has scarcely a question to ask concerning the manners and customs, farm operations, rustic festivals, religious observances, institutions of the neighborhood in which Dr. Drake was reared."

[From the Cincinnati Chronicle.]

"From these letters we obtain not only many facts connected with Dr. Drake's early life, but are admitted to close acquaintance with his very thoughts and feelings. They are filled with sentiments of affection and unalloyed paternal tenderness; and pervading all, a kindly, genial humor, and not seldom a flash of wit, or an expression of genuine hearty mirth. Those who knew the writer intimately, well know that under a dignified and apparently cold exterior, beat a warm, affectionate heart, and a spirit which, if sometimes arbitrary, was never unjust. These traits are indeed excellently portrayed in his letters, written in a playful, affectionate vein, and evidently with no thought of the value they possessed, and the purpose they were soon to serve."

Number Seven.

Miscellanies.

1. MEMORANDUMS OF A TOUR, made by JOSIAH ESPY, in the States of Ohio and Kentucky, and Indiana Terri tory, in 1805. With an introductory sketch, pp. viii, 30.

2. TWO WESTERN CAMPAIGNS IN THE WAR OF 1812-13. 1. Expedition of Captain HENRY BRUSH, with supplies for General HULL, 1812. 2. Expedition of Governor MEIGS, for the relief of Fort MEIGS, 1813. By SAMUEL WILLIAMS, with an introductory sketch, pp. 58.

3. THE LEATHERWOOD GOD. An account of the Appearance and Pretensions of JOSEPH C. DILKS, in Eastern Ohio, in 1828. By R. H. TANEYHILL, pp. 56.

One volume, 8vo, finely printed on tinted paper, neatly bound in cloth, extra gilt top and edges, uncut, or entirely uncut. Price, $2.50.

A few large-paper copies have been printed on heavy tinted paper, cloth, gilt top, and uncut edges, or entirely uncut. Price, $5.00.

[From the Nation.]

Mr.

The last volume is one of the most interesting of the series. Espy's narrative is that of a man with a "curiosity for observation," ." as he himself says, and with an acute judgment which led him frequently to conclusions greatly in advance of his time. The Leatherwood God is one of the most extraordinary narratives of religious fanaticism we have ever met with.

[From the London Saturday Review.]

In

The Ohio Valley Series are well printed and well got up. the last volume we find a narrative of operations in the same region, during the war of 1812, and a very curious and interesting account of the achievements of a predecessor of Joe Smith, who appeared for the first time, no one knew how or whence, at a meeting of the Ohio Methodists in the open air, who laid claim to extraordinary physical and spiritual powers, his possession of which his disciples unhesitatingly believed, and who finally, after duping numbers into a conviction that he was no other than the incarnate Deity, suddenly disappeared no one knew whither. The story is instructive and significant, as an example of the credulity of a comparatively educated, intelligent and hard-headed people, when their religious sense and their appetite for marvel and mystery are at once appealed to. Altogether, the series is one of great local interest, and worthy of something more than a mere local notoriety.

VAN

AN HORNE'S ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.-The History of the Army of the Cumberland: its Organization, Campaigns, and Battles. Written at the request of Major-General George H. Thomas, chiefly from his Private Military Journal, and Official and other Documents furnished by him. By Thomas B. Van Horne, U. S. A.

LIBRARY EDITION. 2 vols. and Atlas. 8vo. Illustrated with 22 Campaign and Battle Maps, compiled by Edward Ruger, late Superintendent Topographical Engineer Office, Headquarters Department of the Cumberland. Cloth, $8.00; sheep, library style, $10.00; half morocco, $12 00

POPULAR EDITION. 2 vols. 8vo. Containing the same text as the library edition, but only one map, that exhibiting all the campaigns. Cloth, $5.00.

The History of the Army of the Cumberland was commenced at the solicitation of Major-General George H. Thomas, and completed with his co-operation and supervision.

With instructions to "write nothing but the truth,” General Thomas, in the summer of 1865, placed in the hands of the author his PRIVATE MILITARY JOURNAL, containing a succinct diary of the events and operations of each day to the close of the war. He also intrusted him with all of his private papers, letters, etc., which in any way related to military matters, and furnished him with the originals or copies of all pertinent official documents, orders, telegrams, reports, and other materials necessary to make a complete and accurate history of the campaigns and battles in which this Army took so prominent a part. He had an enthusiastic interest in the progress of the work, giving the author constantly the benefit of his criticisms and suggestions in its general purview and its minutest details, and when he last examined some of the completed chapters of the more important campaigns and battles, he expressed his satisfaction and gratification by saying: "It will be an honest and truthful history."

[From General W. T. Sherman.]

"I take great pleasure in complimenting you on the handsome style in which this work is printed and bound. The subject-matter also is admirable, well arranged, and well digested. The narrative is clear and concise, sustained by the reasonable number of official documents."

[From General Joseph Hooker.]

"I have just finished its careful perusal, and have not found one line to expunge or one idea to change. It is a masterly work, truthful, clear, forcible and able in all respects."