First Woman in the Republic

Carolyn L. Karcher is Professor of English, American Studies, and Women’s Studies at Temple University.

"A monumental scholarly achievement."-Joan Hedrick, author of Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life "The definitive biography of a major figure in American literary and political history.-Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation "This is a magnificent book. Child’s character emerges as a model for what a woman can be."-Jane Tompkins, author of West of Everything “Child’s was a ‘household name’ during her lifetime, Carolyn Karcher writes, . . . yet since then her works and influence have been all but ‘erased from history.’ Ms. Karcher hopes to restore that reputation and to familiarize the modern reader with Child’s writings through a literary biography based on ‘extensive quotation and detailed literary analysis.’ Ms. Karcher’s goal is an admirable one; Child’s importance and influence should be reasserted.” (New York Times Book Review) “Karcher convincingly argues that Child deserves recognition as one of the handful of leading women intellectuals of her day: indeed, of leading intellectuals of either sex.” (London Review of Books) “Karcher details Child’s life in a thoroughly researched manner that emphasizes Child’s own writings.” (Library Journal) “Karcher has prodigiously researched nineteenth-century life in America to place her subject in historical context for this definitive biography.” (Publishers Weekly) “Karcher’s biography of Child is a monumentally thorough scholarly work.” (Women's Review of Books) “Lydia Maria Child’s rich and expansive life has finally been accorded the voluminous treatment it deserves.” (American Historical Review) “This valuable portrait of a complex and talented woman may be most notable for indicating the extent to which she was of-rather than ahead of-her time.” (Kirkus Reviews)

• Illustrations ixPreface and Acknowledgments xiChronology xixAbbreviations xxviPrologue: A Passion for Books 11. The Author of Hobomok 162. Rebels and "Rivals": Self Portraits of a Conflicted Young Artist 383. The Juvenile Miscellany: The Creation of an American Children's Literature 574. A Marriage of True Minds: Espousing the Indian Cause 805. Blighted Prospects: Indian Fiction and Domestic Reality 1016. The Frugal Housewife: Financial Worries and Domestic Advice 1267. Children's Literature and Antislavery: Conservative Medium, Radical Message 1518. "The First Woman in the Republic": An Antislavery Baptism 1739. An Antislavery Marriage: Careers at Cross Purposes 19510. The Conditions of Women: Double Binds, Unresolved Conflicts 21411. Schisms, Personal and Political 24912. The National Anti-Slavery Standard: Family Newspaper or Factional Organ? 26713. Letters from New York: The Invention of a New Literary Genre 29514. Sexuality and Marriage in Fact and Fiction 32015. The Progress of Religious Ideas: A "Pilgrimage of Pennance" 35616. Autumnal Leaves: Reconsecrated Partnerships, Personal and Political 38417. The Example of John Brown 41618. Child's Civil War 44319. Visions of a Reconstructed America: The Freedmen's Book and A Romance of the Republic 48720. A Radical Old Age 53221. Aspirations of the World 573Afterword 608Notes 617Works of Lydia Maria Child 757Index 773