SOURCE: An Introduction to The Gleaner, by Judith Sargent Murray, Union College Press, 1992, pp. iii-xx.

In the following essay, Baym provides an overview of Murray's life and an analysis of the writings collected in The Gleaner.

During the first decade after George Washington's election in 1788, scattered groups of Americans began to think about creating a literature that would demonstrate the new nation's cultural vitality to its own citizens and to Europe. A considerable amount of their writing had been published by 1798, but it had appeared mostly in magazines with short life spans and minuscule budgets. There were, as yet, very few original American books. For Judith Sargent Murray to gather her published and unpublished magazine pieces into a book was daring, especially for a woman. The Gleaner, like most publishing ventures of the time, was financed by subscription. Among those supporting it were such prominent persons as George...