Harriet Prescott Spofford

Katrin Fischer (Babson College)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Despite her fertile oeuvre and the literary quality of some of her works, Harriet Prescott Spofford remains less known than most of her writing contemporaries. While Louisa May Alcott, Lydia Maria Child, Emily Dickinson, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edith Wharton, and other nineteenth-century woman authors have long been critically acclaimed, Spofford still awaits to be fully (re-)discovered.

Harriet Elizabeth Prescott was born in 1835 as the first of seven children to Joseph Newmarch Prescott and Sarah Jane Bridges in Calais, Maine. She grew up in an intellectually vibrant atmosphere and was eager to learn, but opportunities for a formal education were limited due to the small-town setting and the family’s dire financial situation. Tough times –

1338 words

Citation: Fischer, Katrin. "Harriet Prescott Spofford". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4176, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4176 Harriet Prescott Spofford 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.