An Arkansas Prophet

(No date). Inscribed: "Presented to Herbert F. Gunnison by his friend Irving Bacheller". Newspaper clipping (apparently from an obituary of the author) tipped to preliminary leaf. Mary Routh McEnery Stuart (1849-1917), born in Marksville, Louisiana, was a prolific and popular author of stories of Southern local color, including a series of stories based on her experiences in Arkansas, including this one featuring a black farmer named Deuteronomy Jones. Robert B. Cochran of the University of Arkansas noted of "An Arkansas Prophet" that it "pushes the envelope a bit by featuring a black man who not only rescues the village belle but also shoots the Yankee cad who seduces her." Sonny, Stuart's most famous work, was published in 1896. Binding lacks front free endpaper; binding scuffed. Original holograph manuscript, 83 pages, 8vo, rectos only, bound in three quarter calf & marbled boards. Binding lacks front free endpaper; binding scuffed.