A SUMMER IN
LESLIE GOLDTHWAITE'S LIFE
Mrs. A. D. T. WHITNEY
THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR FRIEND
MARIA S. CUMMINS
OF DAYS AMONG THE MOUNTAINS MADE
BEAUTIFUL BY HER COMPANIONSHIP
I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE STORY
PREFACE TO REAL FOLKS SERIES.
"Leslie Goldthwaite" was the first of a series of four, whichgrew from this beginning, and was written in 1866 and the yearsnearly following; the first two stories—this and "WeGirls"—having been furnished, by request, for the magazine"Our Young Folks," published at that time with such success byMessrs. Fields, Osgood & Co., and edited by Mr. Howard M.Ticknor and Miss Lucy Larcom. The last two volumes—"RealFolks" and "The Other Girls"—were asked for to complete theset, and were not delayed by serial publication, but issued atonce, in their order of completion, in book form.
There is a sequence of purpose, character, and incident in thefour stories, of which it is well to remind new readers, upon theirreappearance in fresh editions. They all deal especially withgirl-life and home-life; endeavoring, even in the narration ofexperiences outside the home and seeming to preclude its life, tokeep for girlhood and womanhood the true motive and tendency,through whatever temporary interruption and necessity, of andtoward the best spirit and shaping of womanly work and surrounding;making the home-life the ideal one, and home itself the centre andgoal of effort and hope.
The writing of "The Other Girls" was interrupted by the GreatFire of 1872, and the work upon the Women's Relief Committee, whichbrought close contact and personal knowledge to reinforce meresympathy and theory,—and so, I hope, into this last of theseries, a touch of something that may deepen the influence of themall to stronger help.
I wish, without withdrawing or superseding the specialdedication of "Leslie Goldthwaite" to the memory of the dear friendwith whom the weeks were spent in which I gathered material forLeslie's "Summer," to remember, in this new presentation of thewhole series, that other friend, with whom all the after work in itwas associated and made the first links of a long regard andfellowship, now lifted up and reaching onward into the hopes andcertainties of the "Land o' the Leal."
I wish to join to my own name in this, the name of Lucy Larcom,which stands representative of most brave and earnest work, in mostgentle, womanly living.
ADELINE D. T. WHITNEY.
Milton, 1893.