Fanny’s Books

Fanny loved books more than anything else. She may have valued reading more than anyone in her family, which is saying a lot. Reading comforted Fanny, provided her with entertainment, and helped her form an identity and values. While Fanny’s life changed in various ways through the war years, books were a constant in her life.

Reading served many purposes in Fanny’s life. When she was feeling blue or down in the dumps, especially about the Civil War, Fanny would read a book to cheer herself up. If she was feeling sick or lonely, having a family member or friend read to her was the perfect medicine. As she developed her opinions on the world around her, books guided her thoughts and values. An example of this would be the connection between Uncle Tom’s Cabin and abolition. Family and friends expressed their love for Fanny through gifting books. She received finely printed, newly published books throughout her life for Christmas and other special occasions. When Fanny struggled to hold a conversation, books offered her a topic to discuss with others. Books inspired Fanny, and reading led her to discover her passion for writing.

Fanny’s library, pictured to the left, holds her 348 books from 1844-1866. This amazing collection represents the life of a young female reader in the mid-19th century. Fanny adored Shakespeare, Dickens, Winthrop, and Curtis. She especially loved fiction, and many of her books were freshly published novels. Her library also consists of religious texts, poetry, school books, fairy tales, drama, and other genres.

While Fanny read or was read to from most of these books, she also used them in other ways. Some of her albums hold pressed plants and flowers, and some contain pasted miniature portraits or autographs. Many are dated and signed by their owner, Miss Fanny Adeline Seward. Some have little notes or dedications from gift givers, and many seem well used.

Fanny’s passing in October, 1866 devastated her father. He called the event his “great unspeakable sorrow,” and dedicated this special library to her. It sits in the Seward's library room, and is considered to be one of the most complete collections of a young girl in the 1800s still in existence. The collection is so special because it was meant to be protected for years to come and was not touched for decades.

The connection between Fanny’s reading and writing was her book critiques. Throughout her diary, Fanny describes her opinions of her books. These opinions are often based on her idea of their theme or character's moral worth. Fanny’s critiques develop in thoughtfulness over the years, and her love of words seeps through her entries.

Fanny’s Book Critiques

Cecil Dreeme was written by Major Theodore Winthrop, a popular author of the time. Major Winthrop became a martyr in the Civil War years, as he was one of the first Union officers killed in battle. His heroism and early death caused Fanny to idolize him, and she even owned his carte de vis (little portrait). Fanny not only wrote about her love of Cecil Dreeme many times in her diary, but she also encouraged her friends to read the story. Her continuous interest in this novel shows the social function of reading in Fanny’s society. Note how the hard-back novel costs $1.00 back in 1862.

“It is not easy to give up a melancholy feeling of ever new regret that a genius of such promise, capable of such expansion in years to come, should have been forever removed from the world where such are so few & so needed. And yet few men have accomplished more in so short a life. In truth the length of life is not in years. This book is valuable not only for rich descriptions, and sumblime reflections, but for the insight it affords into the life and habit of thought of its author.” (late 1862)