Reluctant Revolutionary: Review of The Papers of Henry Laurens, Volume 76: September 1, 1782-December 17, 1792. David R. Chesnutt and c.James Taylor, eds.; Peggy J. Clark, associate editor; Thomas M. Downey, assistant editor, Samuel C. Smith and Mary Inkrot, editorial assistants.

Authors

Dorothy Twohig, University of Virginia

Date of this Version

Fall 2004

Document Type

Article

Citation

Documentary Editing, Volume 26, Number 3, Fall 2004. ISSN 0196-7134

Comments

2004 © the Association for Documentary Editing. Used by permission.

Abstract

In the early 1950s, when President Harry S. Truman called upon the scholarly community to undertake the publication of the papers of individuals important to an understanding of American history, Henry Laurens of South Carolina was among the 112 figures recommended. Laurens was not well known to twentieth-century historians outside of South Carolina even though he had held several prestigious appointments on a national level. Indeed, one of the goals of the Laurens Papers was to rescue him from an undeserved obscurity, and it is certain that the superb sixteen volume edition of Laurens's papers, published for the South Carolina Historical Society by the University of South Carolina Press, will perform that function admirably.