Ambrose and Eleanor or the Adventures of Two Children, Deserted on an Uninhabited Island [...] To which is added, Auguste and Madelaine, a real history. By Miss Helen Maria Williams.

Island Orphans and French Romance: Tales of Survival and Love in the Eighteenth Century

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With a narrative reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe, the story of Ambrose and Eleanor follows two English children, left to fend for themselves on a remote island. Through their experiences, they receive a “natural education,” reinforcing the pivotal role of nature in nurturing the young. With arrival of a shipwrecked British colonel, who discovers the children’s orphaned state, a surrogate family is formed, highlighting the importance of familial bonds and parental guidance. (Andrew O’Malley within Home Words. Discourses of Children’s Literature in Canada, 2009)

This volume’s second work, Auguste and Madelaine…, aligns with Philadelphia’s Francophile sentiments during the years of the French Revolution. It narrates the journey of a young French couple, Auguste and Madelaine. Encountering and overcoming numerous challenges, Madelaine escapes the prospect of a nun’s life and weds her beloved. Following their marriage, the newlyweds “immediately set out for Paris, where they now reside, reportedly among the happiest individuals and most dedicated patriots in France.”

Ambrose and Eleanor was first published in London. Welch notes a 1798 Baltimore edition, likely the first American edition, predating the current one by a year. This Philadelphia edition has a frontispiece engraved by Joseph H. Seymour that shows the two children hugging their newly-found surrogate father. It also features a long list of subscribers, including Benjamin Smith Barton, botanist; Samuel Hazard, historian; Sophia Dorothea M’Kean, daughter of Gov. Thomas McKean; William Rush, sculptor; Robert Smith, Jr., printer, 2 copies; Cornelius W. Stafford, publisher; Robert Waln, Congressman, and so on. One Jacob Zeller ordered 12 copies.

Price: $350.00