BENSON, Luther

Fifteen Years In Hell: an Autobiography

Indianapolis: Carlon & Hollenbeck, 1892. Later (fourth?) printing (first published 1877). Octavo (20cm). Embossed cloth, titled in gilt; 212pp; frontispiece portrait. Mild rubbing to boards; still a tight, straight copy, internally clean, sound, and unmarked.

A popular temperance memoir, written from an Indiana sanitarium, describing a lifetime of abject slavery to alcoholism. Benson (1847-1898) recounts stretches during which he would consume a full gallon of whiskey every 24 hours; periods of sobriety would be followed by months-long binges during which "...my life was one long, hopeless, blank, black night." Benson finally turned to temperance lecturing in hopes of curing his addiction, but realized too late that the stress of touring and appearing before crowds was itself a strong inducement to drink. The memoir ends on a hopeful note, but the details of Benson's biography in the years following publication of his book are unclear – though it does appear he was still lecturing into the early 1890s, those lectures likely being where most copies of Fifteen Years in Hell were sold.

Price: $125.00

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