Reminiscences for My Children, by Elias Riggs, Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Greece and Turkey. (Not Published). 1891
[N.p., likely Constantinople: 1891]. 38pp. Original printed wrappers. Dampstaining to front wrapper, some dust-soiling to wrappers, moderate edge wear, a few small chips. Mild, even toning to text, but otherwise clean. Good plus. Item #4564
A personal memoir, written for his four children, by Elias Riggs, missionary and director of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Greece and Turkey. Elias Riggs (1810-1901) was an important Presbyterian minister and missionary, and also a noted linguist. While serving in the Ottoman Empire, he helped to translate the Bible into Bulgarian and Armenian, and published a Bulgarian grammar. Here, Riggs writes of his life and career from four years old until he concludes his story at the age of eighty-one. In between, Riggs details his early life, his schooling at Amherst College and Andover Theological Seminary, his wide-ranging career as a missionary, and more, peppering his narrative throughout with family anecdotes. The text also includes a short Appendix printing a memoir by Riggs of his wife, Martha Jane Dalzel Riggs, entitled, "A Missionary for Fifty-Five Years." OCLC reports just five total copies -- four in the U.S. (Columbia, Yale, New York Historical Society, and Emory) and one in Turkey. A highly-readable memoir from an important American missionary.
Price: $550.00