Life And Travel In India: Being Recollections Of A Journey Before The Days Of Railroads by Leonowens, Anna Harriette - 1884

Philadelphia: Porter & Coates / Trubner And Co. , 1884. First American Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Good. Plates. 325 Pp. Grey Cloth, Lettered In Gilt And Black, With Black Decorations, Gray-Green Endpapers. First American Edition, Both American And English Publishers Shown On Title Page, 1884 Copyright Date, Porter And Coates On Spine. Some Wear, Pinpoint Frays At Tips And One Minute Fray On Top Edge Of Spine, No Names Or Marks, Gilt Brilliant But Soiling To Cloth, Contents Clean And Square But A Little Aged. Anna Harriette Leonowens (Born Ann Hariett Emma Edwards;1831 - 1915) Was An Anglo-Indian Or Indian-Born British Travel Writer, Educator, And Social Activist, And Granddaughter Of A Native Indian. She Became Well Known With The Publication Of Her Memoirs, Beginning With The English Governess At The Siamese Court (1870), Which Chronicled Her Experiences In Siam (Modern Thailand), As English Teacher To The Children Of The Siamese King Mongkut. By 1869, Leonowens Was In New York City, Where She Briefly Opened A School For Girls In The West New Brighton Section Of Staten Island, And Began Contributing Travel Articles To A Boston Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, Including "The Favorite Of The Harem", Reviewed By The New York Times As "An Eastern Love Story, Having Apparently A Strong Basis Of Truth". She Expanded Her Articles Into Two Volumes Of Memoirs, Beginning With The English Governess At The Siamese Court (1870), Which Earned Her Immediate Fame But Also Brought Charges Of Sensationalism. In Her Writing, She Casts A Critical Eye Over Court Life; The Account Is Not Always A Flattering One, And Has Become The Subject Of Controversy In Thailand, And She Has Also Been Accused Of Exaggerating Her Influence With The King. Leonowens' Own Account Was Fictionalized In Margaret Landon's Best-Selling Novel Anna And The King Of Siam (1944), As Well As Adaptations For Other Media Such As Rodgers And Hammerstein's 1951 Musical The King And I. During The Course Of Her Life, Leonowens Also Lived In Western Australia, Singapore And Penang, The United States, Canada And Germany. In Later Life, She Was A Lecturer Of Indology And A Suffragist. Among Other Achievements, She Co-Founded The Nova Scotia College Of Art And Design.