Curious Punishments of Bygone Days [Paperback]

Alice Morse Earle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1989

In ransacking old court records, newspapers, diaries and letters for the historic foundation of the books Ms. Earle wrote on colonial history, she found and noted much of interest which was not used or referred to in any of those books. An accumulation of notes on old-time laws, punishments and penalties evoked this volume. The subject is not a pleasant one, though it often has a humorous element; but a punishment that is obsolete gains an interest and dignity from antiquity and its history becomes endurable because it has a past only and no future. Contents: bilboes; ducking stool; stocks/ pillory; punishments of authors and books; whipping post; scarlet letter; branks and gags; public penance; military punishments; branding and maiming.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ALICE MORSE EARLE (1851-1911) was a popular writer of the Colonial Revival movement. She was the author of seventeen books, many of them about daily life in early America, especially in New England. Thanks to her meticulous research and the timelessness of her writing, a number of these books are still in print. VIRGINIA LOPEZ BEGG is a landscape historian and designer, and author of numerous articles about the role of women in shaping the American landscape, particularly through the garden literature of the 1860-1940 period.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 149 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing; 2nd edition (December 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804809593
• ISBN-13: 978-0804809597
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,689,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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