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Secondary sourceBook1888

The Life of La Fayette, the Knight of Liberty

Lydia Hoyt Farmer · 1888

An 1888 biography tracing Lafayette's life across France and America, part of a popular series on famous figures.

A later biography that presents Lafayette's life story as a model of heroism for American readers.

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About this source

What it is

This is a biography of Lafayette written by Lydia Hoyt Farmer and published in 1888, long after Lafayette's death. It presents his career as 'the Knight of Liberty in two worlds and two centuries.'

Why it matters

Books like this shaped how later generations of Americans remembered Lafayette, linking him permanently to George Washington and to the ideals of both the French and American revolutions. It shows how his story was retold for a nineteenth-century audience eager for heroic narratives.

Look closer

  • Why might a biography written a century after Lafayette's birth be useful, and what are its limits?
  • What does the title's description of him as a 'knight of liberty' suggest about the author's attitude toward him?
  • How might the author's sources have shaped the story she tells?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Marquis de Lafayette on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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