During the recent renovations of the Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts-home of the famed Alcott family-workmen repairing rotting beams discovered a handwritten manuscript tightly rolled into a bottle and buried in the earthen floor of what was once the root cellar. Conservators from Harvard University's Peabody Museum date the manuscript from the late 1800s. Although the title page bears no signature, there can be little doubt of its authenticity or its author.

The text, published for the first time, will no doubt offend scholars-while capturing the prurient imagination of many readers. The author's true purpose is lost to us, save for hints throughout suggesting that writing this mémoire d'amour served as a cathartic exercise. Only the manuscript remains, and it is offered in unexpurgated form here.