Memories of a Grandmother
Thompson Library Rare Books and Manuscripts Library,
The William Charvat Collection of American Literature
PS2698.R69 M4 1854 

"In presenting this little volume to the world, my heart sinks as I fear its judgement. For after all the changes of an eventful life, even with these white lines upon my temples, there yet lingers--but timidly now--the desire of my early days--I still wish to be beloved!" 

Memories of a Grandmother by A Lady of Massachusetts [Mrs. A.M. Richards] is a 141-page autobiography. Dedicated to her family, the story of Richards's life recounts her struggles and triumphs: her childhood; her "successful marriage" to a physician; their move west and subsequent dissatisfaction with rural life; their relocation to the West Indies; the death of her husband and the births and deaths of different children. The red binding of the book is common in gift books in the 1850s. Memories of a Grandmother is a story of "giving ardor to virtue, or confidence to truth," punctuated with hymns and poetry, and she concludes the book with the hope that she might have given the reader a life exemplary enough to follow.