| This dissertation presents a critical introduction to and authoritative transcriptions of over two hundred out of 2500 holograph letters by Judith Sargent Murray (1751--1820), a well-known American essayist, poet, and dramatist, whose notable and prolific correspondence spanned a pivotal period in American history. The critical introduction contextualizes her correspondence and focuses on such cultural issues as feminism, education, politics, and religion.; Part I examines critical approaches to epistolarity and situates Sargent Murray's life and oeuvre in the context of Universalism, her family, and her marriages to John Stevens and John Murray. The introduction argues that, combined with family dynamics and religion, the era's political and economic events significantly formed her ideas. It goes on to examine the role her reading played in mitigating her lack of formal education and in generating her feminism and theories of education. The last chapter of Part I recounts the history of her letters, elucidates my editorial criteria, and defines the editorial apparatus.; Part II, divided into four sections, contains over two hundred transcriptions of the letters, plus annotations. Part III contains the bibliography, the editorial apparatuses, lists of her known works, the works and/or authors mentioned or alluded to in her correspondence, and a description of the condition of the twenty letter books containing her holograph copies of her correspondence.; Sargent Murray's epistles reveal hitherto unknown facts about her life, family history and genealogy; her literary endeavors (including publication arrangements and theatrical concerns); the genesis of her ideas of Republican virtue, feminism, and education; Universalist church history and the life of her second husband, the Rev. John Murray; and American (especially New England) political, economic, and cultural history. Her correspondence addresses family, friends, and prominent religious and political figures. It frequently contains erudite commentary regarding historical and literary figures, including her brother Winthrop Sargent, Abigail and John Adams, Nathaniel Greene, James Relly, Benjamin Rush, Gilbert Stuart, George and Martha Washington, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Samuel Johnson. In all, Sargent Murray's epistles affirm her mastery of epistolary forms and functions, and demonstrate her transcendence of the restraints placed on women in her era. |
