Reviewed by Catherine Allgor | Book Review | The William and Mary Quarterly, 61.1

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Reviewed by Catherine Allgor | Book Review | The William and Mary Quarterly, 61.1 | The History Cooperative

Reviews of Books

The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison. Edited by David B. Mattern and Holly C. Shulman . (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003. Pp. xviii, 442. $29.95.) Reviewed by Catherine Allgor , University of California at Riverside
Dolley Madison has not suffered from a lack of biographical attention; rather, from a modern point of view, she has suffered from too much of the wrong kind. In the nineteenth century and through the twentieth century, plays, novels, and biographies centering around a certain set of "colorful" women consistently appeared. But with titles such as Daring, Darling Dolley, Bewitching Betsy Bonaparte, and Peggy Eaton: Democracy's Mistress, these works obviously did not take Dolley Payne Madison, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, or Margaret O'Neale Eaton seriously as historical subjects.¹ So maybe it was a kind of backlash in the 1970s that the new women's historians eschewed these ladies, whose fame seemed to rest on such qualities as feminine "charm" and such a retrograde job as "hostess." In the era of the Bicentennial, for instance, Abigail Adams, with her political interests and her protofeminist cry for "the ladies," seemed a much more suitable role model for late twentieth-century women and girls.	1
But Dolley Madison has made a new, grander entrance onto the historical stage. The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison, edited by David B. Mattern and Holly C. Shulman, represents an important milestone in women's history, in the history of the early republic, and in the evolution of modern historical papers projects. The editors first encountered Dolley Madison while working on the decades-long, ongoing project of editing and publishing the papers of her husband James Madison. Over five years, they collected copies of more than 2,000 Dolley Madison documents. Of these, they selected roughly 300 letters for publication. The letters span Dolley's adult life, from her experience as a young woman in fever-ridden Philadelphia in 1793 to her death in her beloved Washington City in 1849.	2
Mattern and Shulman have divided the letters into five chronological sections, heading each with an absorbing essay that goes beyond the biographical to offer interpretations and historical context. Employing the meticulous editorial protocols adopted from the Papers of James Madison, this volume has impeccable scholarly credentials. The index is thorough and detailed—a good read in itself—and the editors have also supplied a biographical directory, a particularly useful addition given Dolley's many and varied correspondents. Gorgeously produced, with beautiful, readable type and copious illustrations, The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison is both an indispensable resource for scholars of the period and a stunning addition to any collector's library.	3
Mattern is not the first scholar associated with the Papers of James Madison to take Dolley Madison seriously. Like most historical subjects, Dolley owes her posterity to the work and commitment of many individuals, including Ralph Ketcham, James Madison biographer and former editor of the Papers. While engaged in the official task of collecting and copying James's papers, Ketcham made a special effort to copy Dolley's letters, often attaching little notes describing the contents. This practice stood the present editors in good stead, one reason, no doubt, that Mattern and Shulman dedicated this volume to Ketcham. Dolley even finds her way into the published volumes of the Papers of James Madison, as Ketcham and others, including current editor in chief J.C.A. Stagg, make judicious use of her letters to illuminate particular circumstances in James Madison's life and career.	. . .

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