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''Letters from an American Farmer'' is a series of letters written by French American writer J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, first published in 1782. The considerably longer title under which it was originally published is ''Letters from an American Farmer; Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs not Generally Known; and Conveying Some Idea of the Late and Present Interior Circumstances of the British Colonies in North America''. The twelve letters cover a wide range of topics, from the emergence of an American identity to the slave trade. Crèvecœur wrote ''Letters'' during a period of seven years prior to the American Revolutionary War, while farming land near Orange County, New York. It is told from the viewpoint of a fictional narrator in correspondence with an English gentleman, and each letter concerns a different aspect of life or location in the British colonies of America. The work incorporates a number of styles and genres, including documentary, as well as sociological observations. Although only moderately successful in America, ''Letters'' was immediately popular in Europe upon its publication in 1782. Prompted by high demand, Crèvecœur produced an expanded French version that was published two years later. The work is recognised as being one of the first in the canon of American literature, and has influenced a diverse range of subsequent works. ==Biographical background== Born in Caen, Normandy to an aristocratic family, Michel-Guillaume Hector St. John de Crèvecœur received a Jesuit education at the Jesuit Collège Royal de Bourbon. In 1754, having left school, Crèvecœur visited relatives in England where he became engaged; this visit would mark the beginning of a lifelong admiration for the culture and politics of the country. Shortly after this, possibly due to the death of his fiancée, he joined a French regiment in Canada engaged in the French and Indian War (1754–1763). After being wounded in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759), Crèvecœur resigned his commission and began traveling widely across Pennsylvania and New York.〔Manning 1997, p. ix.〕〔Saar 1994, pp. 819–20.〕 In 1765, Crèvecœur became an official resident of New York and naturalized as a British subject, adopting the name J. Hector St. John. After working as a surveyor and trader during the subsequent four years, in which he traveled extensively, he purchased farm-land in Orange County, New York and married Mehitabel Tippett. During the following seven years, Crèvecœur wrote ''Letters from an American Farmer'' and corresponded with William Seton (possibly referenced in the book as "Mr F. B.", and to whom the French edition was dedicated).〔〔Manning 1997, p. 227.〕 As local hostilities between the loyalists and revolutionaries escalated in the build-up to the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Crèvecœur decided to return to France; scholars have suggested that he did so in order to secure his legal claim to his patrimony. Upon his arrival in New York City in 1778, Crèvecœur found himself under suspicion of being a Revolutionary spy and was detained; whilst in detention, he suffered a nervous collapse. He was released to travel in September 1780, and traveled to London after landing in Ireland. There, he sold the manuscript of ''Letters'' to publishers Davies & Davis before leaving for France.〔Manning 1997, p. xlv.〕〔Grabo 1991, p. 159.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Letters from an American Farmer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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