author
N. B. (Nancy Bostick) De Saussure
1837–1915
A Southern memoirist with a sharp memory for vanished customs, she turned family stories into a vivid account of plantation life in South Carolina before the Civil War. Her best-known book speaks in a personal, intimate voice, framed as a message to her granddaughter.
1 Audiobook
Old Plantation Days: Being Recollections of Southern Life Before the Civil War
by N. B. (Nancy Bostick) De Saussure
About the author
Nancy Bostick De Saussure, who published as N. B. De Saussure, was born in 1837 and died in 1915. Library and catalog records identify her as the author of Old Plantation Days; Being Recollections of Southern Life Before the Civil War, published in New York by Duffield & Company in 1909.
That book is the work she is best known for today. It presents her memories of plantation life in South Carolina before and during the Civil War, and it opens as a direct address to her granddaughter Dorothy, giving the narrative a warm, family-centered tone.
Because confirmed biographical information online is limited, it is safest to describe her primarily through this memoir and its historical setting. Her writing preserves a personal view of the antebellum South and the Civil War era, making her of interest to readers drawn to firsthand recollections, regional history, and family memory.