Hannah Callender Sanson's diary is an important and neglected source in the history of eighteenth-century Philadelphia, in family and women's history, and in Quakerism. Susan E. Klepp and Karin Wulf bring deep learning, local knowledge, and current scholarly concerns to bear on this exciting modern edition. This book is a stirring and important contribution to our understanding of sensibility and ... Read moreAmerican society in revolutionary times. -Sarah Knott, Indiana University, author of Sensibility and the American Revolution The Diary of Hannah Callender Sanson is truly a delightful and compelling read. Historians will be interested in Hannah Callender Sanson's comments on her work, the women and men she encounters, the many sociable conversations she describes, her life as a Quaker, and the many references to reading that pervade the diary. Susan E. Klepp and Karin Wulf both know a great deal about late eighteenth century Philadelphia and the lives of women therein, and it shows. They give readers a polished introduction to the diary and do an excellent job of succinctly establishing the necessary contexts, from married women's legal position to Quaker belief to contemporary expectations for courtship and marriage. -Mary Beth Norton, Cornell University, author of Liberty's Daughters, Founding Mothers and Fathers, and In the Devil's Snare Readers will certainly enjoy and learn much from this extraordinary account of an eighteenth-century Quaker woman's aspirations, beliefs and experiences in a society and culture undergoing remarkable transition. While HCS's diary is less comprehensive than Elizabeth Drinker's, it offers a fascinating and alternative viewpoint on the life of a middle-class Quaker woman in eighteenth-century Philadelphia. This skillfully edited journal will appeal to anyone interested in the histories of gender, the family, race, culture and the Quaker movement in the early modern Atlantic world. -Naomi Wood, Quaker Studies (March 2013) Long held in private hands, an extraordinary diary kept by Hannah Callender Sansom (1737-1801) has been published verbatim for the first time in this book, which includes in-depth interpretative essays and explanatory footnotes that provide context for readers. Sansom's diary is one of the earliest, fullest documents written by an American woman, and it yields fresh insights into women's experiences in early America, the urban milieu of the emerging middle class, and the culture that shaped both. The Diary of Hannah Callender Sansom offers readers a new look at how a woman in eighteenth-century British America lived and observed the world around her. -Pennsylvania Heritage Show Less