[Illustration: 18 PINE ST.] [Illustration: 7 PLEASANT ST.] [Illustration: 8 PLEASANT ST.] [Illustration: 15 PLEASANT ST.] [Illustration: 19 PLEASANT ST.] [Illustration: 9 QUINCE ST.] [Illustration: 2 WEST SILVER ST.] [Illustration: SUNSET HILL] [Illustration: 18 UNION ST.] [Illustration: 21 UNION ST.] DESCRIPTIONS OF NANTUCKET The people for whom the old dwellings were built and the conditions under which they lived were responsible for the architecture. Here are extracts from most of the older writings, and some later ones, which writings should be read in full by those interested. 1772--This is the date the author (Crevecoeur) of Letters From An American Farmer, by J. Hector St. John, visited this island. The “Letters” were written in English and first published in London in 1782. There was a French edition of 1784 and one of 1787. This is the earliest descriptive writing of Nantucket with which we are familiar. It consists of nearly one hundred pages, with a map, and should be read entire by all who love their old Nantucket. Subsequent articles and histories of the Island have not failed to make use of what St. John wrote. It is best to state that M. St. Jean de Crevecoeur may not have been accurate in some details, as for instance the extent to which building frames and foundations were brought from the mainland. The writer of 1807 quoted hereinafter says of St. John’s Letters. … “his pictures, though striking likenesses, are always flattering. Another objection is that he is frequently erroneous in minute and unimportant circumstances. He gives the contour and character of the face exactly though, as said before, in too favorable a light, but he makes strange mistakes in the sleeve of a coat or the strap of a shoe. If the reader has good nature enough to pardon these two faults, he will peruse the Letters with perpetual delight.” The following quotations are assembled from the “Letters:”