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Cummins, Maria Susanna (1827 - 1866)

Last edited by Floor_Toebes on June 4, 2025, 3:03 p.m.
Short name Cummins, Maria Susanna
VIAF http://viaf.org/viaf/9967425
First name Maria Susanna
Birth name Cummins
Married name
Date of birth 1827
Date of death 1866
Flourishing -
Sex Female
Place of birth Salem
Place of death Boston (Massachusetts)
Lived in United States
Place of residence notes
Unknown artist, portrait of Maria Susanna Cummins, 18XX.
Mother
Father
Children
Religion / ideology
Education School education
Aristocratic title -
Professional or ecclesiastical title -
Cummins, Maria Susanna was ...
Profession(s)
Memberships
Place(s) of Residence United States
Author of
receptions circulations
The Lamplighter (1854) 14 0
Mabel Vaughan (1857) 8 0
El Fureidis (1860) 4 0
Haunted hearts (1864) 5 1
Editor of
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Copyist of
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Illustrator of
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Translator of
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Circulations of Cummins, Maria Susanna, the person (for circulations of her works, see under each individual Work)
Title Date Type

Receptions of Cummins, Maria Susanna, the person

For receptions of her works, see under each individual Work.

Title Author Date Type
*Art. in De Tijdspiegel Bilt la Motte, C.E. van der 1858 comments on person
*Mention in Art. in De Gids Mr. A. Carpentier 1858 -
Unknown artist, portrait of Maria Susanna Cummins, 18XX. None is portrait of

- Heidi L. M. Jacobs
- Maria Susanna Cummins's London Letters: April 1860
- Legacy 19:2 Legacy 19.2 (2002) 241-254 Maria Susanna Cummins's London Letters: April 1860. Within scholarship on Maria Susanna Cummins (1827-1866), there are two recurrent phrases: "author of the best-selling novel The Lamplighter" and "little is known about her life." Despite the early contextualization of Cummins by Nina Baym and Mary Kelley, most of the recent critical work on Cummins has centered on her first and best-known novel, The Lamplighter (1854). Very little critical attention has been paid to Cummins's life, her career as a publishing author, her lesser-known novels, her periodical publications, and her archived letters. The limited scope of scholarship on Cummins perpetuates a narrow vision of her publishing career. Moreover, few scholars have challenged the characterization of Cummins as having "a quiet, retiring personality" and leading "an uneventful, secluded life, occupied with the duties of home and church and with her writing" ("Cummins, Maria Susanna"), thus perpetuating a stereotypical depiction not only of Cummins but of the antebellum woman writer. Details of Cummins's personal life are unfortunately sparse; however, her archived papers are a vital resource for creating a fuller picture of Cummins as an antebellum woman and as a novelist.

Encouraged by father to write.
KLK 1904