This collection contains letters sent to Sophie Sosnowski, who was born at Pforzheim, Baden in 1809. The daughter of Christian Wentz, who was court physician to the Duke of Baden, in 1835 she married Polish aristocrat Joseph Sosnowski. They immigrated to the United States not long afterwards. Sophie Sosnowski became a widow with three children upon Joseph Sosnowski's death. She supported her family by teaching at a succession of schools for wealthy young women, first in New York State and eventually in Georgia and South Carolina. The letters in this collection were sent to Sosnowski by her sister, brother-in-law, and niece, who remained in Germany.