| Bibliography |
- 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. |