Alas, no, I do not have a signature on that page, which in the "Mercy" book
contains a printed (and unsigned) inscription. Congratulations on finding the
second (fourth in the series) book.

One more bit of information. There is a website entitled "Kubik Fine Books"
[kubikbooks.com], and one of the catalogues listed there is for the First World
War. Your book is listed there. Unfortunately, it is catalogued under
"Miscellaneous Works", not under "American" or "British". So this site does not
much to our knowledge. Probably the best thing would be to find her biography
of her husband.


Francis A. Miniter


krik999 wrote:

Does your copy have the drawing and signature opposite the copyright page?
Funny thing is after I made this post I went back to the estate sale for the
second day and found a copy of "Lilies, White and Red"
Thanks
Gary

"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message
...

krik999 wrote:

I picked up the book My Home in the Field of Honour by Frances Wilson
Huard yesterday.I was delighted to find a black watercolor (or ink)
drawing of a
World War I French soldier and signature by the author on the page after
the copyright page. The wet ink left a mark on the copyright page
making me think it is truely authentic. Does anyone else have a copy of
this or can anyone shed some light on the author?
Thanks
Gary

Hi Gary,

Frances Wilson Huard is not an easy person about whom to locate
biographical information. I have done some searches on the internet and
so far have only found the following:

She was born in 1885. I have never been able to determine if she was
American or English. I tended to think of her as English until I
discovered that in 1921 she wrote a preface to a book by Francois Boucher
entitled "American footprints in Paris; a guide book of historical data
pertaining to Americans in the French capital from the earliest days to
the present times". That pushed the needle back to neutral, maybe leaning
toward her being American. She married Charles Huard (1874 - 1965), a
well-to-do Frenchman before WWI, and they lived at his substantial home to
the east of Paris. WWI came and engulfed their property. This resulted in
her memoir, "My Home in the Field of Honor" written in English and
published in 1916. As the tide of battle turned and moved again to the
east, her home was requisitioned as an army hospital, and she wrote a
second memoir, "My Home in the Field of Mercy", published in 1917. The
winding-down of the war gave her the occasion to publish a third memoir in
1918, "With Those Who Wait", and a fourth in 1919, "Lilies, White and
Red". All of the books I have mentioned so far were published by George
H. Doran, New York, thus pushing the needle a little farther toward the
possibility that she is American.

In 1918 she translated a novel "Colette Baudoche" by Maurice Barres. Again
Doran was the publisher. In 1919 she co-authored "The Flying Poilu" with
Michel Nadaud. In 1921 she translated "The Golden Goat" by Paul Auguste
Arene, published also by Doran. In 1927 she co-authored "French
provincial furniture" along with Henri Longnon. This work was published
by J. B. Lippincott (Philadelphia and London). In 1929, she translated
"The chosen people; a short history of the Jews in Europe", by Jerome and
Jean Tharaud. After that she was silent until 1969 when she wrote a
biography of her deceased husband, entitled "Charles Huard: 1874-1965" and
published by A. Michel in Paris.

I have not been able to find her date of death. Certainly, it seems to be
after 1969. Beyond that, I have found nothing.

I myelf have "My Home in the Field of Mercy".


Francis A. Miniter