This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Si... more This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Simpson Whipple, and the altruistic efforts of the two women to help refugees in their adopted home in Bagni di Lucca, Italy. Until the end of her life, Cleveland defied conventionality, which in Italy was realized in her love and domestic bliss with another woman, Whipple. Together they contributed to war relief efforts, helping women and children, and taking care of those suffering from the Spanish fever. When she passed away in her Tuscan home, Rose Cleveland was hailed as a remarkable example of nineteenth-century womanhood. She had led a full and courageous life, and her journey toward self-realization had culminated in her last years of labor and love in Italy.
This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Si... more This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Simpson Whipple, and the altruistic efforts of the two women to help refugees in their adopted home in Bagni di Lucca, Italy. Until the end of her life, Cleveland defied conventionality, which in Italy was realized in her love and domestic bliss with another woman, Whipple. Together they contributed to war relief efforts, helping women and children, and taking care of those suffering from the Spanish fever. When she passed away in her Tuscan home, Rose Cleveland was hailed as a remarkable example of nineteenth-century womanhood. She had led a full and courageous life, and her journey toward self-realization had culminated in her last years of labor and love in Italy.
Sirpa Salenius, An Abolitionist Abroad: Sarah Parker Remond in Cosmopolitan Europe Amherst and Bo... more Sirpa Salenius, An Abolitionist Abroad: Sarah Parker Remond in Cosmopolitan Europe Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2016. Stephanie Durrans Universite Bordeaux Montaigne, France Based on extensive archival research that was carried out on both sides of the Atlantic, Sirpa Salenius’s An Abolitionist Abroad is a much needed addition to our understanding of the complex transatlantic networks that developed throughout the nineteenth century. This work is primarily concerned...
This article examines Frances Willard's first transatlantic tour of 1868–70, which played a k... more This article examines Frances Willard's first transatlantic tour of 1868–70, which played a key role in the development of her career. Her concern for improving the situation of women matured during her travels to European capitals and as far north as Helsinki, Finland. “A Peep at Finland” is one of the few travel articles that Willard published of the tour. In that article, she recorded her impressions of Finland's cities and their inhabitants. Her writing employs common travel-writing strategies, while her descriptions reflect dominant nineteenth-century American beliefs. After her tour, Willard became a prominent figure, working locally, nationally, and internationally within various reform organizations dedicated to women's causes. Her efforts to improve the situation of women are still recognized in countries like Finland.
In her article negra d\u27America Remond and Her Journeys Sirpa A. Salenius analyzes Sarah P. Rem... more In her article negra d\u27America Remond and Her Journeys Sirpa A. Salenius analyzes Sarah P. Remond\u27s travels to Europe. Remond, an African American born free in Salem, Massachusetts in 1826 into an abolitionist family, was a successful lecturer on abolitionism in the United States before traveling to England in 1859. During her anti-slavery lecture tour there, she also became involved in promoting women\u27s rights thus enlarging the scope of her social and political agenda to embrace both racial and gender oppression. Subsequently, she studied in London, graduating as a nurse from London University College before moving to Italy where she graduated as a physician and practiced medicine. Remond\u27s life and activities are exceptional because she crossed the boundaries of her time — physical, geographical, social, and political — in both the U.S. and Europe
The Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) and the Finnish Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg (1... more The Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) and the Finnish Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg (1857-1913), both active women’s rights advocates who toured in the United States in the 1850s and 1880s, respectively, used their travel writing as a powerful medium in promoting their ideological agendas. They articulated their gender politics through presenting American women as pioneers, leaders in women’s suffrage and models of female emancipation. Women’s activism in America was perceptible not only in the formally organized women’s rights movement but also in various reform movements (abolitionism, temperance, and labor movements) that contributed to women’s suffrage on a worldwide scale. As the century progressed, the women’s rights movement grew into an international collaboration of people and associations dedicated to a common cause. The travel writing of Bremer and Gripenberg offers a view of the century plagued by anxieties about gender, while it serves to advance the writer’s...
Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between th... more Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between the construction of race and transatlantic identity as expressed in a variety of cultural forms, refracted through different disciplinary and critical perspectives, and manifested at different historical moments. Spanning a period from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, the contributions provide a panorama of the wealth and variety of contemporary approaches to grappling with notions of race in a transatlantic context, raising questions about the permanence and fixity of racial boundaries. The volume, which focuses on the cultural sites where individuals construct and express their racial identities in the context of those boundaries, also explores strategies through which those boundaries are defined and redefined. The collection conducts this inquiry by juxtaposing essays on literature, history, visual arts, material culture, music, and dance in ways that encourage the reader to engage with concepts across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The articles in this book were originally published in the Journal of Transatlantic Studies.
James Baldwin’s stories concentrate on racially and sexually marginalized identities placed withi... more James Baldwin’s stories concentrate on racially and sexually marginalized identities placed within cosmopolitan capitals (Paris and New York). In such novels as Another Country, Baldwin explores antonyms, contrasting ideals and ideologies, and the formation of nonconforming relationships. Individual desire and external social pressure create a complex tension that pulls white and black, homo- and heterosexual characters toward and away from each other. Space repeatedly appears as reflective of the inner landscapes of the characters who are intricately linked to the space in which they act. Similar tensions that characterize their inner conflicts appear also in the concept of cosmopolitanism that defines the cities they inhabit. Indeed, a cosmopolitan world citizen, who is at home everywhere but not belonging anywhere, is torn between opposing forces, between inclusion and exclusion. Similarly, Baldwin’s fiction examines inclusion and exclusion, steering, however, away from simplifie...
This article examines the geographical and metaphorical journeys of such nineteenth-century antis... more This article examines the geographical and metaphorical journeys of such nineteenth-century antislavery lecturers as Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown, who crossed the Atlantic to visit Great Britain, France, and Italy. Black travellers crossed the ocean, as Douglass put it, to combat ‘American prejudice against the darker colored races’. Douglass and Brown used different strategies that were available to black men to perform racial protest against discrimination and prejudice. As they moved across the ocean, they challenged American white supremacist ideology by reinventing their identities as cultured cosmopolitans engaged in a journey from discrimination to acculturation, moving toward acceptance and equality.
This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Si... more This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Simpson Whipple, and the altruistic efforts of the two women to help refugees in their adopted home in Bagni di Lucca, Italy. Until the end of her life, Cleveland defied conventionality, which in Italy was realized in her love and domestic bliss with another woman, Whipple. Together they contributed to war relief efforts, helping women and children, and taking care of those suffering from the Spanish fever. When she passed away in her Tuscan home, Rose Cleveland was hailed as a remarkable example of nineteenth-century womanhood. She had led a full and courageous life, and her journey toward self-realization had culminated in her last years of labor and love in Italy.
This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Si... more This chapter looks at the last years of Rose Cleveland, her relationship with Evangeline Marrs Simpson Whipple, and the altruistic efforts of the two women to help refugees in their adopted home in Bagni di Lucca, Italy. Until the end of her life, Cleveland defied conventionality, which in Italy was realized in her love and domestic bliss with another woman, Whipple. Together they contributed to war relief efforts, helping women and children, and taking care of those suffering from the Spanish fever. When she passed away in her Tuscan home, Rose Cleveland was hailed as a remarkable example of nineteenth-century womanhood. She had led a full and courageous life, and her journey toward self-realization had culminated in her last years of labor and love in Italy.
Sirpa Salenius, An Abolitionist Abroad: Sarah Parker Remond in Cosmopolitan Europe Amherst and Bo... more Sirpa Salenius, An Abolitionist Abroad: Sarah Parker Remond in Cosmopolitan Europe Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2016. Stephanie Durrans Universite Bordeaux Montaigne, France Based on extensive archival research that was carried out on both sides of the Atlantic, Sirpa Salenius’s An Abolitionist Abroad is a much needed addition to our understanding of the complex transatlantic networks that developed throughout the nineteenth century. This work is primarily concerned...
This article examines Frances Willard's first transatlantic tour of 1868–70, which played a k... more This article examines Frances Willard's first transatlantic tour of 1868–70, which played a key role in the development of her career. Her concern for improving the situation of women matured during her travels to European capitals and as far north as Helsinki, Finland. “A Peep at Finland” is one of the few travel articles that Willard published of the tour. In that article, she recorded her impressions of Finland's cities and their inhabitants. Her writing employs common travel-writing strategies, while her descriptions reflect dominant nineteenth-century American beliefs. After her tour, Willard became a prominent figure, working locally, nationally, and internationally within various reform organizations dedicated to women's causes. Her efforts to improve the situation of women are still recognized in countries like Finland.
In her article negra d\u27America Remond and Her Journeys Sirpa A. Salenius analyzes Sarah P. Rem... more In her article negra d\u27America Remond and Her Journeys Sirpa A. Salenius analyzes Sarah P. Remond\u27s travels to Europe. Remond, an African American born free in Salem, Massachusetts in 1826 into an abolitionist family, was a successful lecturer on abolitionism in the United States before traveling to England in 1859. During her anti-slavery lecture tour there, she also became involved in promoting women\u27s rights thus enlarging the scope of her social and political agenda to embrace both racial and gender oppression. Subsequently, she studied in London, graduating as a nurse from London University College before moving to Italy where she graduated as a physician and practiced medicine. Remond\u27s life and activities are exceptional because she crossed the boundaries of her time — physical, geographical, social, and political — in both the U.S. and Europe
The Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) and the Finnish Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg (1... more The Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) and the Finnish Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg (1857-1913), both active women’s rights advocates who toured in the United States in the 1850s and 1880s, respectively, used their travel writing as a powerful medium in promoting their ideological agendas. They articulated their gender politics through presenting American women as pioneers, leaders in women’s suffrage and models of female emancipation. Women’s activism in America was perceptible not only in the formally organized women’s rights movement but also in various reform movements (abolitionism, temperance, and labor movements) that contributed to women’s suffrage on a worldwide scale. As the century progressed, the women’s rights movement grew into an international collaboration of people and associations dedicated to a common cause. The travel writing of Bremer and Gripenberg offers a view of the century plagued by anxieties about gender, while it serves to advance the writer’s...
Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between th... more Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between the construction of race and transatlantic identity as expressed in a variety of cultural forms, refracted through different disciplinary and critical perspectives, and manifested at different historical moments. Spanning a period from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, the contributions provide a panorama of the wealth and variety of contemporary approaches to grappling with notions of race in a transatlantic context, raising questions about the permanence and fixity of racial boundaries. The volume, which focuses on the cultural sites where individuals construct and express their racial identities in the context of those boundaries, also explores strategies through which those boundaries are defined and redefined. The collection conducts this inquiry by juxtaposing essays on literature, history, visual arts, material culture, music, and dance in ways that encourage the reader to engage with concepts across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The articles in this book were originally published in the Journal of Transatlantic Studies.
James Baldwin’s stories concentrate on racially and sexually marginalized identities placed withi... more James Baldwin’s stories concentrate on racially and sexually marginalized identities placed within cosmopolitan capitals (Paris and New York). In such novels as Another Country, Baldwin explores antonyms, contrasting ideals and ideologies, and the formation of nonconforming relationships. Individual desire and external social pressure create a complex tension that pulls white and black, homo- and heterosexual characters toward and away from each other. Space repeatedly appears as reflective of the inner landscapes of the characters who are intricately linked to the space in which they act. Similar tensions that characterize their inner conflicts appear also in the concept of cosmopolitanism that defines the cities they inhabit. Indeed, a cosmopolitan world citizen, who is at home everywhere but not belonging anywhere, is torn between opposing forces, between inclusion and exclusion. Similarly, Baldwin’s fiction examines inclusion and exclusion, steering, however, away from simplifie...
This article examines the geographical and metaphorical journeys of such nineteenth-century antis... more This article examines the geographical and metaphorical journeys of such nineteenth-century antislavery lecturers as Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown, who crossed the Atlantic to visit Great Britain, France, and Italy. Black travellers crossed the ocean, as Douglass put it, to combat ‘American prejudice against the darker colored races’. Douglass and Brown used different strategies that were available to black men to perform racial protest against discrimination and prejudice. As they moved across the ocean, they challenged American white supremacist ideology by reinventing their identities as cultured cosmopolitans engaged in a journey from discrimination to acculturation, moving toward acceptance and equality.
Neglected American Women Writers of the Long Nineteenth Century, edited by Verena Laschinger and ... more Neglected American Women Writers of the Long Nineteenth Century, edited by Verena Laschinger and Sirpa Salenius, is a collection of essays that offer a fresh perspective and original analyses of texts by American women writers of the long nineteenth century. The essays, which are written both by European and American scholars, discuss fiction by marginalized authors including Yolanda DuBois (African American fairy tales), Laura E. Richards (children’s literature), Metta Fuller Victor (dime novels/ detective fiction), and other pioneering writers of science fiction, gothic tales, and life narratives. The works covered by this collection represent the rough and ragged realities that women and girls in the nineteenth century experienced; the writings focus on their education, family life, on girls as victims of class prejudice as well as sexual and racial violence, but they also portray girls and women as empowering agents, survivors, and leaders. They do so with a high-voltage creative charge. As progressive pioneers, who forayed into unknown literary terrain and experimented with a variety of genres, the neglected American women writers introduced in this collection themselves emerge as role models whose innovative contribution to nineteenth-century literature the essays celebrate.
Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between th... more Race and Transatlantic Identities provides a rich overview of the complex relationship between the construction of race and transatlantic identity as expressed in a variety of cultural forms, refracted through different disciplinary and critical perspectives, and manifested at different historical moments. Spanning a period from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, the contributions provide a panorama of the wealth and variety of contemporary approaches to grappling with notions of race in a transatlantic context, raising questions about the permanence and fixity of racial boundaries. The volume, which focuses on the cultural sites where individuals construct and express their racial identities in the context of those boundaries, also explores strategies through which those boundaries are defined and redefined. The collection conducts this inquiry by juxtaposing essays on literature, history, visual arts, material culture, music, and dance in ways that encourage the reader to engage with concepts across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The articles in this book were originally published in the Journal of Transatlantic Studies.
Sarah Parker Remond (1826–1894) left the free black community of Salem, Massachusetts, where she ... more Sarah Parker Remond (1826–1894) left the free black community of Salem, Massachusetts, where she was born, to become one of the first women to travel on extensive lecture tours across the United Kingdom. Remond eventually moved to Florence, Italy, where she earned a degree at one of Europe’s most prestigious medical schools. Her language skills enabled her to join elite salons in Florence and Rome, where she entertained high society with musical soirees even while maintaining connections to European emancipation movements.
Remond’s extensive travels and diverse acquaintances demonstrate that the nineteenth-century grand tour of Europe was not exclusively the privilege of white intellectuals but included African American travelers, among them women. This biography, based on international archival research, tells the fascinating story of how Remond forged a radical path, establishing relationships with fellow activists, artists, and intellectuals across Europe.
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was the First Lady of the United States for nearly two years assisting h... more Rose Elizabeth Cleveland was the First Lady of the United States for nearly two years assisting her brother, President Grover Cleveland. Lesser known, she was also a literary scholar, novelist, and a poet who published works that empowered women. Throughout her life, she placed herself in the center of controversies concerning the position of women; their social, political and educational rights and opportunities; and the changing attitudes regarding their sexuality. She posed crucial questions about social norms and identity formation, questioned the validity of the heterosexual norm, and challenged patriarchal expectations. This book puts Rose Cleveland in her proper place in the historical record and shows her work concerning the ways in which society perceived, invented, and articulated gender and sexuality to be relevant still today.
American Authors Reinventing Italy: The Writings of Exceptional Nineteenth-Century Women (publish... more American Authors Reinventing Italy: The Writings of Exceptional Nineteenth-Century Women (published by Il Prato, 2009) is a collection of scholarly papers that examine Italy in the writings of such American women as Margaret Fuller, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Constance Fenimore Woolson, and Edith Wharton.
The introduction provides a general picture of the British and American female authors in Italy—especially in Florence—and discusses the works of such writers as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Ouida, Violet Paget, Kate Field, and Francesca Alexander.
In the essay that forms Chapter One, Debra Bernardi (Carroll College, Montana) examines sexuality in Margaret Fuller´s Italian writings.
In Chapter Two, Philip J. Kowalski (Wake Forest University, North Carolina) analyzes Harriet Beecher Stowe’s views on Italy from her travel texts and her novel set in Italy.
In Chapter Three, Sirpa Salenius (University of New Haven in Florence, Italy), looks at the way Constance Fenimore Woolson uses Italian tropes in her discussion of contemporary issues.
In Chapter Four, Virginia Ricard (University of Bordeaux, France) discusses themes, settings, and characters that deal with Italy in Edith Wharton’s fiction and non-fiction writing.
The essays in Sculptors, Painters, and Italy: Italian Influence on Nineteenth-Century American Ar... more The essays in Sculptors, Painters, and Italy: Italian Influence on Nineteenth-Century American Art (published by Il Prato, 2009) examine the influence of Italy on the works of nineteenth-century American sculptors and painters.
The focus is on their experience in Italy, their relationship with local workmen, their contact with Italian artists (e.g., the Tuscan Macchiaioli), and the impact of their Italian experience on the formation of American art.
The papers in the volume discuss such artists as Horatio Greenough, Thomas Cole, Hiram Powers, Henry Kirke Brown, Elihu Vedder, Edmonia Lewis, and John Singer Sargent. The essays are written by scholars from American universities and museums, and they appear in the following order:
Elise Madeleine Ciregna, “’An Example in the Right Direction’: Horatio Greenough’s Life and Work in Italy”
John F. McGuigan Jr, “’A Painter’s Paradise’: Thomas Cole and His Transformative Experience in Florence, 1831-1832”
Rebecca Reynolds, “’No Ordinary Hands’: Hiram Powers’ Artistic and Professionally Related Family”
Karen Lemmey, “’I would just as soon be in Albany as Florence,’ Henry Kirke Brown and the American Expatriate Colonies in Italy, 1842-1846”
Mary K. McGuigan, “A Garden of Lost Opportunities: Elihu Vedder in Florence, 1857-1860”
Marilyn Richardson, “Friends and Colleagues: Edmonia Lewis and Her Italian Circle”
Kathleen Lawrence, “John Singer Sargent, Italy, and the American Paradox”
Florence, Italy: Images of the City in Nineteenth-Century American Writing (published by the Univ... more Florence, Italy: Images of the City in Nineteenth-Century American Writing (published by the University of Joensuu Press, 2007) examines the impressions of Florence in non-fictional and fictional writing of such American authors as James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Henry James, Constance Fenimore Woolson, William Dean Howells and Edith Wharton.
The volume demonstrates that the diverse textual presentations of the city in nineteenth-century American writing stem from conventional ideas of Florence as the touristic capital of art as evidenced in paintings, monuments, churches and aristocratic villas.
In addition to urban tropes, the book discusses the idealized rural scenery.
The landscape is described as “Arcadia” and “Eden” and defined in such religious terminology as “divine”, “Heaven” and “Paradise.”
When creating their Florentine fictional characters, the American writers were influenced by the racial beliefs of the period. Indeed, as the thesis shows, while writing about Florence, the American authors remain intricately interconnected with American realities. The writers’ constructions of Florence are influenced by the dominant contemporary American prejudices and prevailing ideologies. Consequently, Florence often is used as a backdrop for addressing such issues as the problems linked with urbanization, immigration, and gender, class and racial definitions.
In this way, nineteenth-century American images of Florence remain inseparable from the historical and cultural context of their time.
Set in Stone: 19th-century American Authors in Florence (published by Il Prato, 2003) is a study ... more Set in Stone: 19th-century American Authors in Florence (published by Il Prato, 2003) is a study of American authors whose Florentine sojourns have been honored with commemorative plaques in the city as well as its immediate surroundings. It is based on the M.A. thesis from the University of Florence, published in April 2000.
The writers included in the volume are Mark Twain, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell.
The TSA is a broad network of scholars who use the 'transatlantic' as a frame of reference for th... more The TSA is a broad network of scholars who use the 'transatlantic' as a frame of reference for their work in a variety of disciplines, including (but not limited to): history, politics and international relations, and literary studies. All transatlantic-themed paper and panel proposals from these and related disciplines are welcome.
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Papers by Sirpa Salenius
Remond’s extensive travels and diverse acquaintances demonstrate that the nineteenth-century grand tour of Europe was not exclusively the privilege of white intellectuals but included African American travelers, among them women. This biography, based on international archival research, tells the fascinating story of how Remond forged a radical path, establishing relationships with fellow activists, artists, and intellectuals across Europe.
The introduction provides a general picture of the British and American female authors in Italy—especially in Florence—and discusses the works of such writers as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Ouida, Violet Paget, Kate Field, and Francesca Alexander.
In the essay that forms Chapter One, Debra Bernardi (Carroll College, Montana) examines sexuality in Margaret Fuller´s Italian writings.
In Chapter Two, Philip J. Kowalski (Wake Forest University, North Carolina) analyzes Harriet Beecher Stowe’s views on Italy from her travel texts and her novel set in Italy.
In Chapter Three, Sirpa Salenius (University of New Haven in Florence, Italy), looks at the way Constance Fenimore Woolson uses Italian tropes in her discussion of contemporary issues.
In Chapter Four, Virginia Ricard (University of Bordeaux, France) discusses themes, settings, and characters that deal with Italy in Edith Wharton’s fiction and non-fiction writing.
The focus is on their experience in Italy, their relationship with local workmen, their contact with Italian artists (e.g., the Tuscan Macchiaioli), and the impact of their Italian experience on the formation of American art.
The papers in the volume discuss such artists as Horatio Greenough, Thomas Cole, Hiram Powers, Henry Kirke Brown, Elihu Vedder, Edmonia Lewis, and John Singer Sargent. The essays are written by scholars from American universities and museums, and they appear in the following order:
Elise Madeleine Ciregna, “’An Example in the Right Direction’: Horatio Greenough’s Life and Work in Italy”
John F. McGuigan Jr, “’A Painter’s Paradise’: Thomas Cole and His Transformative Experience in Florence, 1831-1832”
Rebecca Reynolds, “’No Ordinary Hands’: Hiram Powers’ Artistic and Professionally Related Family”
Karen Lemmey, “’I would just as soon be in Albany as Florence,’ Henry Kirke Brown and the American Expatriate Colonies in Italy, 1842-1846”
Mary K. McGuigan, “A Garden of Lost Opportunities: Elihu Vedder in Florence, 1857-1860”
Marilyn Richardson, “Friends and Colleagues: Edmonia Lewis and Her Italian Circle”
Kathleen Lawrence, “John Singer Sargent, Italy, and the American Paradox”
The volume demonstrates that the diverse textual presentations of the city in nineteenth-century American writing stem from conventional ideas of Florence as the touristic capital of art as evidenced in paintings, monuments, churches and aristocratic villas.
In addition to urban tropes, the book discusses the idealized rural scenery.
The landscape is described as “Arcadia” and “Eden” and defined in such religious terminology as “divine”, “Heaven” and “Paradise.”
When creating their Florentine fictional characters, the American writers were influenced by the racial beliefs of the period. Indeed, as the thesis shows, while writing about Florence, the American authors remain intricately interconnected with American realities. The writers’ constructions of Florence are influenced by the dominant contemporary American prejudices and prevailing ideologies. Consequently, Florence often is used as a backdrop for addressing such issues as the problems linked with urbanization, immigration, and gender, class and racial definitions.
In this way, nineteenth-century American images of Florence remain inseparable from the historical and cultural context of their time.
The writers included in the volume are Mark Twain, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell.