Frances Anne Kemble (Fanny Kemble)

Frances Anne Kemble (Fanny Kemble), 1809 - 1893, Scarce three volumes of memoirs, which were published separately, contain some of her writing about slavery but also range over a wide variety of observations about her life on stage, in the arts and living in America.  Many of the passages are in the form of letters.      1. "Records of a Girlhood," 605 pages, published by Henry Holt in 1879 and is a second edition. Here, she writes about growing up in England, life on the stage, coming to America, and her first impressions of the country. The book ends in 1833, the year before her marriage to slave owner Pierce Butler, but already she is making observations about the evils of slavery.  Someone has lightly affixed an 1883 newspaper obituary of the author to a blank page in the back.  It is pasted only along the top edge so it could probably be removed easily.     2. "Records of Later Life," (2 copies) published in 1882 by Henry Holt is a first edition. Here, her observations pick up in 1834, and she writes more about slavery (although that is still only a part of the book) along with accounts of her life and work and observations about major figures of the day from Dickens to a steam ship trip up the Hudson River.