DOCSLIB.ORG

Miss Leslie's Magazine AP8 M6918.843M Finding Aid Prepared by Abby Lang

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Miss Leslie's Magazine AP8 M6918.843M Finding Aid Prepared by Abby Lang Miss Leslie's Magazine AP8 M6918.843m Finding aid prepared by Abby Lang. Last updated on May 15, 2020. University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Miss Leslie's Magazine Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................3 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 5 Administrative Information........................................................................................................................... 6 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................6 Bibliography...................................................................................................................................................7 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 8 Stories.......................................................................................................................................................8 Poems..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Articles and Essays................................................................................................................................19 Patterns, Receipts, and Directions.........................................................................................................20 Columns................................................................................................................................................. 21 Plates...................................................................................................................................................... 22 - Page 2 - Miss Leslie's Magazine Summary Information Repository University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Title Miss Leslie's Magazine Call number AP8 M6918.843m Date 1843 Extent 1 book Language English Abstract Miss Leslie’s Magazine was a monthly women’s magazine of literature and fashion published in Philadelphia from January of 1843 to July of 1846, when it was absorbed by Godey’s Lady’s Book. This book contains volumes 1 and 2 of Miss Leslie’s Magazine, dating from January 1843 to December 1843; each volume contains 6 issues. Eliza Leslie was a Philadelphia-born writer of popular cookbooks, children’s stories, and guides for women on domestic life and work. Miss Leslie’s Magazine incorporates Leslie’s recipes and instructions for maintaining a household with fashion plates, essays, and stories and poems from contributing writers such as N.P. Willis, Lydia H. Sigourney, T. S. Arthur, Park Benjamin, and Miss Leslie. Cite as: Miss Leslie's Magazine, 1843, Rare Book & Manuscript Library Print Collections, University of Pennsylvania. - Page 3 - Miss Leslie's Magazine Biography/History Miss Leslie’s Magazine was a monthly women’s magazine of literature and fashion published in Philadelphia from January of 1843 to July of 1846. In 1844 the magazine’s name was changed to The Ladies’ Magazine of Literature, Fashion, and the Fine Arts; in 1845 it was changed to Arthur’s Ladies’ Magazine, and it was subsequently merged with the popular Godey’s Lady's Book in July of 1846 ( Oxford Companion to American Literature). Eliza Leslie was the original editor of the magazine, as well as a leading contributor, yet she retired by the end of the first year of publication. T.S. Arthur, a writer and contributor to Miss Leslie’s Magazine as well as to Godey’s, overtook the editorship until its eventual absorption by Godey’s (Mott 734). Eliza Leslie was a Philadelphia-born writer of popular cookbooks, children’s stories, and guides for women on domestic life and work. She was born in 1787, the daughter of Robert Leslie, a watch-maker, and Lydia Baker. The family lived in Philadelphia excluding a 6 year stay in England in order for her father to export clocks to Philadelphia. Robert Leslie was a successful watch-maker and was friendly with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and became an elected member of the American Philosophical Society on Jefferson’s recommendation. Eliza Leslie was educated in French and music by tutors in her home, and in sewing by her mother and in writing by her father. As a child Leslie’s “chief delight was in reading and drawing”, and she read all that she could and began writing verse at a young age (Haven 348). Leslie’s father died in 1803, and in order to support the family, Leslie and her mother opened a boardinghouse. Leslie then began attending the Philadelphia cooking school of Mrs. Goodfellow, during which time she formed her own collection of recipes based on her school notes. From this recipe collection grew Leslie’s first book, Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats, which was published in 1827 by Munroe & Francis and became one of the most popular early American cookbooks (Bartlett). Encouraged by her publisher, Leslie began writing juvenile fiction and went on to publish many books of children’s stories, such as The Mirror (1828), The Young Americans (1829), Stories for Emma (1829), and Atlantic Tales (1833). She began writing for adults when her story “Mrs. Washington Potts” was published in and won a prize from Godey’s Lady's Book. Leslie was most financially successful with her cookbooks and domestic guides, such as The Domestic Cookery Book (1837), The House Book; or A Manual of Domestic Economy (1840), and The Lady’s Receipt Book: A Useful Companion for Large or Small Families (1846) (Haven 349). Leslie was able to support herself solely through her writing. She lived during her later years at the United States Hotel in Philadelphia and was buried at St. Peter's churchyard in Philadelphia in 1858 (Haven 350). Miss Leslie’s Magazine incorporates Leslie’s recipes and instructions for maintaining a household with fashion plates, essays, and stories and poems from contributing writers such as N.P. Willis, Lydia H. Sigourney, T. S. Arthur, Park Benjamin, and Miss Leslie. - Page 4 - Miss Leslie's Magazine Scope and Contents This book contains volumes 1 and 2 of Miss Leslie’s Magazine, dating from January 1843 to December 1843. The magazine was published monthly and each volume contains 6 issues. Each issue of Miss Leslie’s Magazine contains several illustrated plates, short stories, poems, and one or more regular items such as “New Receipts, by Miss Leslie”, “Female Health and Beauty”, or “Things Worth Knowing, by Miss Leslie”. Several of the stories are serialized and continue in numerous issues throughout the year. Some issues contain sewing patterns or instructions for completing domestic tasks. Several issues contain essays on topics such as writing, critical reading, or equestrianism. The six issues of the first volume contain general editorial remarks and comments on the illustrations on the first page as well as a note from the publisher, called variously “The Publisher to the Public” or “Publisher’s Table”, on the final page. The issues of the second volume most often do not contain these items, although one issue has a comment on a plate and one issue has a “Publisher’s Table.” The issues never include any advertisements. Miss Leslie’s Magazine prided itself on displaying new methods of illustration and using original art, yet maintaining an affordable cost to the reader. The publisher’s comments on the plates in Miss Leslie’s Magazine often provide information about the illustration technique, such as mezzotint and lithotint, as well as information about the artists and engravers. The lithographer P.S. Duval and the engraver John Sartain were two of the prominent Philadelphia artists to show their work in Miss Leslie’s Magazine. Duval was the eminent lithographer in Philadelphia at the time, and he was one the first American lithographers to experiment with printing in color, rather than hand-coloring prints (Wainwright 61). The first color print appeared in the April 1843 issue of Miss Leslie’s Magazine, “Grandpapa’s Pet”. This print was drawn and lithotinted by the artist John H. Richards and lithographed by Duval, and declared itself “the first specimen of this art ever produced in the United States”. This first color print was printed with multiple colors on a single stone, which created color hues, but not bold colors; the prints were then hand-colored with brighter shades (Wainwright 61). The article “The New Art of Lithotint” in the April issue accompanies the print and extols the importance of the new process of color lithotint (113). Another notable set of plates, from the January 1843 issue, is comprised of a fashion plate of a woman in “a dress of grey merino [with] a short cloak of purple velvet”, yet in place of her face is a round cut- out in the plate. The following fashion plate shows a woman in an “evening dress of gros d’Afrique” and her face is aligned so as to appear as the face for both plates. The opening comment of this issue explains “to show the effect of the colour and costume upon complexion,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Before 1880, Through Excuses Only
    CHAPTER ONE BEFORE 1880, THROUGH EXCUSES ONLY She is in the swim, but not of it. —Journalist magazine In 1890, only 4 percent of American journalists were women, and percentages in other writing fields were even lower.Those few who made a serious com- mitment to writing found their course severely constrained—by their educa- tion, family responsibilities, social codes, and isolation from other writers. Because of these limited freedoms and connections, American women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries wrote by relying on some form of justifi- cation or rationalization, which varied with the decades, and they usually wrote professionally for only part of their adulthood. Cast in the insubstantial role of Non-Writer, a subset of the care-giving Woman, these writers were meant to address only women readers on narrowly defined women’s topics such as home- making while the genres and pronouncements of male Writers were shaping American intellectual culture. Although their choices were few, for women working within a patriarchal system without supportive networks or groups, these excuses and restrictive definitions did provide some space for writing. DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD In the colonial period, women’s labor was frequently needed, in towns and certainly on the frontier, and it provided their means of securing a living when 1 2 A GROUP OF THEIR OWN left without father or husband. Some better educated single women and wid- ows worked in journalism—writing, editing, printing, and distributing news- papers while also taking on contract printing jobs. Elizabeth Glover of Cam- bridge, whose husband, the Reverend Jose Glover, died on the boat to America, operated the first printing press in North America (Marzolf 2).
    [Show full text]
  • 22 Thomas Bully's Register of Portraits, 1801-1871
    22 Thomas Bully's Register of Portraits, 1801-1871. THOMAS SULLY'S K1GISTER OP POBTBAITS, 1801-1871. Arranged and Edited with an Introduction and Notes. BY CHARLES HENBY HART. (Continued from vol. xxxii, page 432.) NAME SIZE DATE 445. DOBSON SEN. MR., "for his son. A copy." 24x20 1862 446. DONALDSON MRS., "of Balti- more. " Bust 1816 Sully painted Mrs. James Laury Donaldson, which is owned by Mrs. Robert M. Gushing. 447. DONNELLY MRS., "for her father Mr Slevin." Head 1856 448. DONNELLY MRS., " copied from my first." Head 1856 449. DORSEN MR. & SON. "Copy begun by Tom." Half length 1839 450. DORSEY DR., "hands intro- duced." Bust 1812 Doctor John Syng Dorsey (1783-1819) after Sully was engraved by Goodman and Hggott for the Portfolio, 1819. He received the degree of doctor of medicine from the University of Pennsylvania at the early age of 18, the trustees by special action having in his case dispensed with the requirement that graduates in medicine should be twenty-one. 451. DORSEY MRS. DR*, "with hands." Bust 1812 450 and 451 owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Gardner DuPont, of Wilmington, Del. 452. DORSEY MRS., "of Baltimore/' Bust 1808 Thomas SuMy's Register of Portraits, 1801-187L 23 NAME SIZE DATE 453. DOUGAN JOSEPH. Kit-kat 1810 Joseph Dugan was a merchant of Philadelphia and President of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1842-1845. 454. DOUGAN MISS, Eat-kat 1810 455. DOUGAN MBS., "formerly Miss Gilliams." Head 1864 456. DOUGLASS MISS, "deceased for Mrs Cruger N. Y." Head 1836 457. DOUGLASS MISS M., "after death two specimens." Bust 1844 458.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the Best American Humorous Short Stories
    МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ ДВНЗ “ПРИКАРПАТСЬКИЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ ІМЕНІ ВАСИЛЯ СТЕФАНИКА” ФАКУЛЬТЕТ ІНОЗЕМНИХ МОВ КАФЕДРА АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ ФІЛОЛОГІЇ САБАДАШ Д. В. Guide to the Best American Humorous Short Stories (G. P. Morris, E. A. Poe, C. M. S. Kirkland, E. Leslie, G. W. Curtis, E. E. Hale and O. W. Holmes) навчальний посібник для студентів 3 курсу Івано-Франківськ 2019 1 УДК 811.111 (075) ББК 81.2 Англ. C 12 Сабадаш Д.В. Guide to the Best American Humorous Short Stories (G. P. Morris, E. A. Poe, C. M. S. Kirkland, E. Leslie, G. W. Curtis, E. E. Hale and O. W. Holmes) : навчальний посібник для студентів 3 курсу. Бойчук А.Б. Івано-Франківськ, 2019. 60 с. Навчальний посібник створено з метою збагатити мовний запас студентів, сформувати у них навички читання, перекладу та усного мовлення, а також ознайомити їх із основами лінгвостилістичного аналізу художнього тексту. Посібник містить одинадцять розробок з комплексами вправ до семи автентичних англомовних оповідань американських авторів. У нього включено два додатки із проектними завданнями для самостійної роботи та глосарій літературних термінів. Розробки передбачають послідовне виконання практичних усних і письмових завдань, та спонукають студента до творчого підходу із залученням власних знань та досвіду. Навчальний посібник призначено для студентів англійського відділення, для студентів німецького та французького відділень, котрі вивчають англійську як другу мову, для аудиторної та самостійної роботи. РЕЦЕНЗЕНТИ: Венгринович Н. Р. – кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри мовознавства Івано-Франківського національного медичного університету Романишин І. М. – кандидат педагогічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри англійської філології Прикарпатського національного університету імені Василя Стефаника Друкується за ухвалою вченої ради факультету іноземних мов Прикарпатського національного університету імені Василя Стефаника (протокол № 3 від 25 червня 2019 р.) © Сабадаш Д.В.
    [Show full text]
  • American Literary Annuals and Gift Books, 1825-1865 Reel Listing
    American Literary Annuals and Gift Books, 1825-1865 Reel Listing Affection's Gift, or a Holiday Present. Affection's Gift, a Christmas, New Year, and New York, N.Y: J.C. Riker -- Franklin Hall. 1832 Birthday Present for 1854. (AAS, NYPL) For children. Largely a rearrangement Philadelphia, Pa: E.H. Butler, & Co. 1854 of material in "The Pearl" 1831. Another (AAS, CU, LC) 1854 also without imprint date rearrangement is "The Hawthorne, a Christmas and [c1853] (AAS, CU); First volume consists largely or New Year's present, 1845" (AAS, CU, LC). entirely of reprints from British authors. Second is Copyright: 1831; Contents: The Rustic Wreath/Mrs. much the same, but includes articles signed by J.Q. Hughs/13; The Mother/Joseph R. Chandler/23; The Adams, T.S. Arthur, the Rev. Henry Haverstick, J.R. Storm/Mrs. Hughs/34; The Souvenir/E.L./Author of Lowell, and W.L. Stone. Lowell's piece, "Truth," had "Young Americans"/53; Reville/E.W___m/68; The appeared as "Sub Pondere cresit" in Arcturus for May Mother's Joy/Mrs. Child/69; The Christmas 1842. Copyright: 1853; Printer: C. Sherman; Visit/Mrs. M. Hughs/70; The Little Contents: Lady Honoria/R. Bernall, Esq., M.P./13; Runaway/J.W.S./91; The Pilot's Where Is Miss Myrtle/Anonymous/29; Flodden Children/Anonymous/93; The Percevals/C.M.B./ Field/D.M. Moir, Esq./32; Too Handsome for Author of "Lights of Education"/110; The Pet Anything/E.L. Bulwer/Author of "Pelham"/35; How Lamb/Mrs. Hughs/122; The Shall I Woo Her?/Author of "Lillian"/44; Hoar- Banditti/Anonymous/149; Le Loup et frost/William Howitt/46; The L'Agneau/Author of "Lights of Education"/157; The Portrait/Anonymous/49; A Wood- Stepmother/Author of "Lights of Education"/168; Scene/Anonymous/52; Manuscript Found in a Child Left on the Sea Shore/Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • The American Novel Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture
    A Companion to the American Novel Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture This series offers comprehensive, newly written surveys of key periods and movements and certain major authors, in English literary culture and history. Extensive volumes provide new perspectives and positions on contexts and on canonical and post-canonical texts, orientating the beginning student in new fields of study and providing the experienced undergraduate and new graduate with current and new directions, as pioneered and developed by leading scholars in the field. Published Recently 61. A Companion to Thomas Hardy Edited by Keith Wilson 62. A Companion to T. S. Eliot Edited by David E. Chinitz 63. A Companion to Samuel Beckett Edited by S. E. Gontarski 64. A Companion to Twentieth-Century United States Fiction Edited by David Seed 65. A Companion to Tudor Literature Edited by Kent Cartwright 66. A Companion to Crime Fiction Edited by Charles Rzepka and Lee Horsley 67. A Companion to Medieval Poetry Edited by Corinne Saunders 68. A New Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture Edited by Michael Hattaway 69. A Companion to the American Short Story Edited by Alfred Bendixen and James Nagel 70. A Companion to American Literature and Culture Edited by Paul Lauter 71. A Companion to African American Literature Edited by Gene Jarrett 72. A Companion to Irish Literature Edited by Julia M. Wright 73. A Companion to Romantic Poetry Edited by Charles Mahoney 74. A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American West Edited by Nicolas S. Witschi 75. A Companion to Sensation Fiction Edited by Pamela K.
    [Show full text]
  • Poe As Magazinist
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2011 Poe as Magazinist Kay Ellen McKamy University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Literature Commons Scholar Commons Citation McKamy, Kay Ellen, "Poe as Magazinist" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3242 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Poe as Magazinist by Kay E. McKamy A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Rosalie Murphy Baum, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Regina Hewitt, Ph.D. Lawrence Broer, Ph.D. Elaine Smith, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 31, 2011 Keywords: short stories, American literature, George R. Graham, early American magazines, Graham‘s Magazine Copyright ©2011, Kay E. McKamy Acknowledgments The idea for this dissertation came from a discussion of early-American magazines in a graduate course with Dr. Rosalie Murphy Baum at the University of South Florida. The dissertation would not have been possible without the professionalism, knowledge, advice, and encouragement of Dr. Baum. Her combination of prodding and praise is exactly what non-traditional students like me need: without her insistence, I would have quit long ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Fiction-Writing Instruction in America, 1826 - 1897
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2016 Imaginary Subjects: Fiction-Writing Instruction in America, 1826 - 1897 Paul Collins Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/671 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] IMAGINARY SUBJECTS: FICTION-WRITING INSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, 1826 – 1897 by PAUL S. COLLINS A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2016 © 2016 PAUL S. COLLINS All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in English to satisfy the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Ira Shor Date Chair of the Examining Committee Mario DiGangi Date Executive Officer David Reynolds Talia Schaffer Ira Shor Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract IMAGINARY SUBJECTS: FICTION-WRITING INSTRUCTION IN AMERICA, 1826 – 1897 by Paul S. Collins Adviser: Ira Shor Imaginary Subjects: Fiction Writing Instruction in America, 1826-1897 is a study of the confluence of commercial, educational, and aesthetic developments behind the rise of instruction in fiction-writing. Part I ("The Predicament of Fiction-Writing") traces fiction-writing instruction from its absence in Enlightenment-era rhetoric textbooks to its modest beginnings in magazine essays by Poe and Marryat, and in mid-century advice literature.
    [Show full text]
  • First Settlers of Passaic Valley (And Vicinity) / by John Littell
    RINQWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY, NJ AUG 2 5 1997 3 6047 09020818 1 RFF N.I 929 I IT l.i ttel I , John. Family records : or. Genealogies of the first settlers of Passaic Valley (and vicinity) / by John Littell . Not to be taken For from the room. reference Family Records, or GENEALOGIES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF PASSAIC VALLEY (And Vicinity) BY JOHN LITTELL Baltimore GENEALOGICAL PUBLISHING CO., INC. Originally published: Feltville, New Jersey, 1852 Reprinted: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore: 1976, 1981 Reprinted from a volume in the collection of the New Jersey State Library Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 76-348 International Standard Book Number 0-8063-0713-7 Made in the United States of America FAMILY RECORDS. GF.NEALOGIES FIRST SETTLERS PASSAIC VALLEY (A .\ D UCIMM.l ABOVE U H AT H All. JOHN LITIICLL. 18;. •-'. PEEFACE. It is an interestingobject of curiosity to most men to search into the origin of their own families, to trace their descents, and to collect the history of the individuals who compose them. However remote in time or consanguinity, it is natu- ral to believe that we inherit from our fathers their mental and physical peculiarities, though modified by circumstances. We enter affectionately into their concerns, and rejoice in their honors or prosperity, and are personally grieved by their misconduct or misfortunes. These sentiments are undoubtedly founded in the innate and best feelings of the human heart, which delights in mul- tiplying and extending the ties that bind us to our fellow creatures. The love of our kindred is the first degree of ex- pansion of thj heart in its progress towards universal bene- volence.
    [Show full text]
  • Abbotsford, Estate of Sir Walter Scott, 516 Academy of Design, N. Y., 524
    INDEX Abbotsford, estate of Sir Walter Scott, 516 Algiers, Dey of (1818), 130, 132-135 Academy of Design, N. Y., 524 AH Khodgia, Dey of Algiers, 129-130 Acadians, 2jn Allen, Hervey, 259 Acheson. Dean, 165 Allen, John, ?6i, 371; letter from Capt. Active, snip, 362*1 Nicholas Biddle. 360 Adair, Mr., 193 Allen, Mrs. John (nSe Johnston), 360W Adair, Douglass, rev. of Boyd's The Papers of Allen, Thomas, 384 Thomas Jefferson, vol. I, 406-409 Allston, Washington, 518 Adams, Henry, 256 American Academy of the Fine Arts, N. Y., Adams, John, $2, 53, 58, 68,169; on activities 84. of and Continental Congress, 53-54; biog. American Historical Association, 258 A of, rev., 537-538 The American Historical Novel, by Ceisy, rev., Adams, John Quincy, 133, 173, 331 5307532 Adams, Thomas R., rev. of Vail's The Voice American History as Interpreted by German of the Old Frontier, 428-429 Historians from 1770 to 1815, by Doll, rev., Adams, William, 376 421-422 Adams, William Taylor (Oliver Optic), 177 The American Mind. An Interpretation of Addison, Joseph, 527 American Thought and Character since the Address to the Minority of the Censors (1784), i88o*s, by Commager, rev., 529-530 445 American Philosophical Society, n^n, 445», Adems, Robert, 50 512; and lightning rods, 47-48; William Admiral Vernon, tavern. See General Warren Shaler makes African studies for, 136, 137, AZsculapius Comes to the Colonies. The Story of 140 the Early Days of Medicine in the Thirteen American Revolution, 58, 73, 165, 451W; Original Colonies, by Gordon, rev., 416-418 John Adams and, rev., 537-538; and Agriculture: in Del.
    [Show full text]
  • Selective Biographies of Early American Women Writers
    ‘For Myself, For My Children, For Money’: Selective Biographies Of Early American Women Writers Jean Petrovic Eccles Centre for American Studies 2010 Hannah Adams, 1755-1831 Although almost unheard of today, during the first quarter of the nineteenth century Hannah Adams was one of the most notable writers in the United States and one of its few internationally recognised authors. Along with writers such as Judith Sargent Murray, Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton and Mercy Otis Warren, Adams helped to create a culture in which women could more freely place their name on their publications. Unlike them, however, Adams rejected the more traditional forms of female writing – poetry, novels and plays – and chose instead local and religious history and theology. Hannah Adams was born in Medford, Massachusetts. Her mother died when she was young, and although ill health prevented Adams herself from regularly attending school she profited greatly from her father’s love of books and at a young age could recite the works of Milton and Pope. In her Memoir she would later write: ‘I remember that my first idea of the happiness of Heaven was, of a place where we should find our thirst for knowledge fully gratified.’ When her father’s business failed in the late 1760s the family began taking in lodgers ‘on rustication’ (temporary expulsion) from Harvard. Adams was tutored by some of these young men, one of whom introduced her to Thomas Broughton’s An Historical Dictionary of All Religions from the Creation of the World to this Perfect Time. This work sparked in Adams a life-long interest in comparative religion and her first work, an overview of the world’s religions, An Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared form the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day was published in 1784.
    [Show full text]