First published in 1887, this 1893 edition has a handwritten inscription on the cover page of 1893; for its age, it is in remarkably good condition. Thomas Nelson Page was a Virginia writer born in 1853 on a plantation near Montpelier VA. So one assumes he drew from his childhood impressions of that era in his writings. Page served as ambassador to Italy from 1913-19 under Woodrow Wilson. He was known for popularizing Plantation Literature that idealized the prewar South, particularly in Virginia. It is very difficult to read as the slave character’s speech’s are phonetically transcribed. It is a sad read, culturally and morally for us today, yet it defines a genre of literature in our country’s history.