My Ántonia

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My Ántonia (1918)
by Willa Sibert Cather
Introduction
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My Ántonia is the final book of Cather's "prairie trilogy" of novels, preceded by O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. This novel is considered Cather's first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting.

The novel tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia Shimerda, who are each brought as children to be pioneers in Nebraska towards the end of the 19th century. Both the pioneers who first break the prairie sod for farming, as well as of the harsh but fertile land itself, feature in this American novel. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong.

The copy presented here is the thirteenth impression of the first edition, printed in March, 1924, with illustrations by Władysław T. Benda.

90108My Ántonia1918Willa Sibert Cather
​

MY ÁNTONIA

BY

WILLA SIBERT CATHER

Optima dies . . . prima fugit

Virgil

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
W. T. BENDA

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge

​

TO

CARRIE AND IRENE MINER


In memory of affections old and true

​

CONTENTS


Introduction ix
BOOK I
The Shimerdas 3
BOOK II
The Hired Girls 163
BOOK III
Lena Lingard 291
BOOK IV
The Pioneer Woman's Story 335
BOOK V
Cuzak's Boys 369

​

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY WILLA SIBERT CATHER


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


Published September, 1918

SECOND IMPRESSION, SEPTEMBER, 1918

THIRD IMPRESSION, MAY, 1919

FOURTH IMPRESSION, SEPTEMBER, 1919

FIFTH IMPRESSION, FEBRUARY, 1920

SIXTH IMPRESSION, MARCH, 1921

SEVENTH IMPRESSION, OCTOBER, 1921

EIGHTH IMPRESSION, JUNE, 1922

NINTH IMPRESSION, AUGUST, 1922

TENTH IMPRESSION, DECEMBER, 1922

ELEVENTH IMPRESSION, MARCH, 1923

TWELFTH IMPRESSION, OCTOBER, 1923

THIRTEENTH IMPRESSION, MARCH, 1924


The Riverside Press

CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1947, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 76 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

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