{"product_id":"first-lady-of-letters-judith-sargent-murray-and-the-struggle-for-female-independence-paperback-softback-9780812222487","title":"First Lady of Letters; Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence (Paperback \/ softback) 9780812222487","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eFirst Lady of Letters\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eJudith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eSheila L. Skemp (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780812222487\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 22 March 2013\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e512 pages, 10 illus.\u003cbr\u003e23.5 x 15.5 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eFirst Lady of Letters\u003c\/i\u003e is an admirable history of this all-but-forgotten Federalist-era women's rights advocate, who argued powerfully that girls could shine as brightly as boys if only they were given the benefits of a classical education and parents who encouraged them to 'reverence themselves.'\" (\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Accessibly written, and with contextual material involving both Murray's times and up-to-date historical thinking about Enlightenment women and the early republic, the book will become the starting point for all future work about Murray and women writers before the Jacksonian period.\" (\u003ci\u003eAmerican Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e) \"A very fine biography, one that is not only an excellent work of scholarship but also highly readable and engaging. In mining and analyzing new materials, Skemp has turned the historical spotlight on an author and critic worthy of ongoing consideration.\" (\u003ci\u003eNew England Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e) \"I am deeply grateful to Skemp for providing us with such a comprehensive perspective on Murray and for helping bring her out of the shadows and into the limelight shared by contemporaries such as Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren. . . . What is most valuable about this book, however, is Skemp's wonderful depiction of the transition in the early Republic as old New England families were forced to share power and authority with the rising classes.\" (\u003ci\u003eWilliam and Mary Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Sheila Skemp gives readers unprecedented access to Murray's private writing, shared almost exclusively with family members and close friends, at these and other momentous occasions in her exceptional new biography. Skemp takes us beyond Murray's more familiar published work to her richly descriptive thoughts on the terrors of childbirth; travels; visits with the likes of Washington and John Adams; and the travails of educating her daughter, two girls also under her stewardship, and the boisterous sons of her brother, who had been sent north from Natchez with Harvard in their sights.\" (\u003ci\u003eEighteenth-Century Studies\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Skemp's nimble selection of the details. . . reveal in stunning, sad, and human detail the mind and life of a brilliant woman who advocated for women's equality well before Mary Wollstonecraft.\" (\u003ci\u003eResources for American Literary Study\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eJudith Sargent Murray (1751-1820), poet, essayist, playwright, and one of the most thoroughgoing advocates of women's rights in early America, was as well known in her own day as Abigail Adams or Martha Washington. Her name, though, has virtually disappeared from the public consciousness. Thanks to the recent discovery of Murray's papers-including some 2,500 personal letters-historian Sheila L. Skemp has documented the compelling story of this talented and most unusual eighteenth-century woman.\u003cbr\u003e Born in Gloucester, Massachussetts, Murray moved to Boston in 1793 with her second husband, Universalist minister John Murray. There she became part of the city's literary scene. Two of her plays were performed at Federal Street Theater, making her the first American woman to have a play produced in Boston. There as well she wrote and published her magnum opus, \u003ci\u003eThe Gleaner\u003c\/i\u003e, a three-volume \"miscellany\" that included poems, essays, and the novel-like story \"Margaretta.\" After 1800, Murray's output diminished and her hopes for literary renown faded. Suffering from the backlash against women's rights that had begun to permeate American society, struggling with economic difficulties, and concerned about providing the best possible education for her daughter, she devoted little time to writing. But while her efforts diminished, they never ceased.\u003cbr\u003e Murray was determined to transcend the boundaries that limited women of her era and worked tirelessly to have women granted the same right to the \"pursuit of happiness\" immortalized in the Declaration of Independence. She questioned the meaning of gender itself, emphasizing the human qualities men and women shared, arguing that the apparent distinctions were the consequence of nurture, not nature. Although she was disappointed in the results of her efforts, Murray nevertheless left a rich intellectual and literary legacy, in which she challenged the new nation to fulfill its promise of equality to all citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e PART I. REBELLIONS: 1769-1784\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. \"This Remote Spot\"\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. Universal Salvation\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. Independence\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4 Creating a Genteel Nation\u003cbr\u003e PART II. REPUBLIC OF LETTERS: 1783-1798\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. \"Sweet Peace\"\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6. A Belle Passion\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 7. A Wider World\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 8. A Career of Fame\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 9. \"A School of Virtue\"\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 10. Federalist Muse\u003cbr\u003e PART III. RETREAT: 1798-1820\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 11. \"We Are Fallen on Evil Times\"\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 12. Republican Daughters, Republican Sons\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue\u003cbr\u003e Afterword\u003cbr\u003e List of Archival Sources\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52739552608536,"sku":"9780812222487","price":28.26,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/first-lady-of-letters-judith-sargent-murray-and-the-struggle-for-female-independence-paperback-softback-9780812222487","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}