Fanny Fern Reader

Emily E. VanDette is Professor of English at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She is the author of Sibling Romance in American Fiction, 1835–1900 and lives in Fredonia, New York.

• IntroductionI. "These are some of the annoyances of authors; but, verily, they have their rewards too": On Authorship and AuthorsBorrowed Light, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, 1853Mrs. Adolphus Smith Sporting the "Blue Stocking," from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, Second Series, 1854American Female Literature, Letter from Fanny Fern, June 16, 1854My Old Ink-Stand and I; or, the First Article in the New House, July 19, 1856Answers to Fern Correspondents, November 15, 1856To Literary Aspirants, December 6, 1856Leaves of Grass, May 10, 1856Charlotte Brontë, June 6, 1857Facts for Unjust Critics, June 13, 1857To Writers, August 22, 1857Fresh Leaves, by Fanny Fern, October 10, 1857International Copyright, November 28, 1857A Rainy Day, February 20, 1858A Leaf for Paul Pry, June 19, 1858A Sketch for Paul Pry, March 26, 1859Pleasures of Authorship, February 23, 1861Answers to My Own Correspondents, March 2, 1861Unscrupulous Authors, April 20, 1861Literary Beginners, March 26, 1864Who Shall Decide When Doctors Disagree, October 26, 1867Punishments and Rewards of Authors, March 2, 1872II. "Mr. Chairman, I rise to say, that there are no faults of sex; that there exist only faults of individuals": On Society's Rules and Roles for Men and WomenSober Husbands, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, Second Series, 1854Hungry Husbands, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, Second Series, 1854Feminine Waiters at Hotels, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, Second Series, 1854The Last Bachelor Hours of Tom Pax, January 19, 1856Tom Pax's Conjugal Soliloquy, February 9, 1856Summer Travel, July 12, 1856Moral Molasses; or, Too Sweet by Half, October 4, 1856A Gauntlet for the Men, February 21, 1857Lady Doctors, April 11, 1857On Voices and Beards, April 3, 1858A Chapter for the Brethren, May 22, 1858Hear! Hear!, June 12, 1858Gimcrack Furniture, December 18, 1858A Hint for Shopping Husbands, March 19, 1859"Oh, the Extravagance of Women!," July 16, 1859Why Rosa Bonheur Don't Marry, December 31, 1859Male-Mischief, February 25, 1860Books of "Advice to Women," March 17, 1860"Pencilings by the Way," March 31, 1860Guilty or Not Guilty, April 7, 1860A Hue and Cry from the Other Side of the House, May 5, 1860Male-Gossips, July 28, 1860What Constitutes a Handsome Man, March 16, 1861A Stone for a Glass House, April 27, 1861A Bit of Injustice, June 8, 1861Lady Letter-Writers, June 15, 1861Tell Us, August 31, 1861An Offer, March 22, 1862Tit for Tat-Tling, March 29, 1862Which?, May 24, 1862Back Track on the Platform, March 30, 1872III. "These are bold words; but they are needed words": On Women's RightsThe Weaker Vessel, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, 1853Has a Mother a Right to Her Children?, April 4, 1857A Word on the Other Side, October 24, 1857"Where Have I Been, and What Have I Seen?," December 19, 1857Is Not Woman Capable of It?, December 26, 1857Lady-Skating, March 20, 1858"What Is My Opinion about Woman Voting?," May 29, 1858"Independence," July 30, 1859Was She a Heroine, or a Criminal?, October 8, 1859Shall Women Vote?, June 30, 1860On the Fence, November 9, 1861A Public Evil, February 1, 1862The Women of 1867, August 10, 1867Woman's Qualification to Vote, May 23, 1868Woman's Millenium, from Ginger-Snaps, 1870Women on the Platform, from Ginger-Snaps, 1870Clubs for the Working Men, March 16, 1872IV. "I wish I was mother to the whole of you!": On Behalf of ChildrenChildren's Rights, from Fern Leaves from Fanny's Port-Folio, 1853Children in 1853, from Little Ferns for Fanny's Little Friends, 1854The "Favorite" Child, February 28, 1857Parent and Child; or, Which Shall Rule, May 9, 1857The Child Whom Nobody Can Do Anything With, January 23, 1858To My Little Ledger Friends, April 10, 1858A Word for the Children, July 3, 1858A Whisper to Mothers, April 16, 1859A Nursery Thought, April 14, 1860A Whisper to Mothers, August 25, 1860How to Look at It, May 4, 1861A Word to Parents, July 27, 1861Mercy for Children, November 30, 1861The Use of Grandmothers, May 23, 1863A Chapter for Mothers, May 30, 1863A Chapter for Parents, August 29, 1863A Grandmother's Dilemma, June 30, 1866What Childhood Should Be, October 19, 1867Grandmothers, June 15, 1872How to Put the Children to Bed, from Caper-Sauce, 1872ON SCHOOL REFORMA Word to Parents and Teachers, March 14, 1857One More — "Last Word," October 29, 1859Philanthropy in the Right Direction, March 24, 1860The Children's Day, June 2, 1860Writing "Compositions," June 9, 1860At Last, November 24, 1860Half a Loaf Better Than No Bread, February 22, 1862A Fatal Error, February 11, 1865Will Parents Take Heed?, from Caper-Sauce, 1872V. "How I longed to sit down in those little tents, and talk with those heroes of Gettysburg": Select Commentary about the Civil WarThe Time to Speak, June 1, 1861Baby-Regiments, August 24, 1861Election-Day, December 28, 1861Holidays and Holy-People, January 11, 1862A Fifth Avenue Scene, July 4, 1863Our City Camps, September 26, 1863The Chief Obstacle to Enlistments, March 5, 1864Unwritten History of the War, from Folly as It Flies, 1868The History of Our Late War, from Ginger-Snaps, 1870VI. "More than angelic are these soul-responses": On Grief, Suffering, and CompassionNew York, from Fresh Leaves, 1857A Word to Shop-Keepers, June 20, 1857Mother's Room, August 15, 1857What Shall We Name the Baby?, August 22, 1857To Young Ladies, December 5, 1857What Came of a Violet, May 8, 1858Blackwell's Island Number I, August 14, 1858Blackwell's Island, Number III, August 28, 1858Sympathy; or, Straws for the Drowning, May 21, 1859Night and Sleep, December 24, 1859Vivid Life, August 3, 1861Whose Business Is It?, September 28, 1861Poisoned Arrows, May 10, 1862How They Look at It, May 30, 1863VII. "New York, with all thy faults, I love thee still": On Life in the CityGreenwood and Mount Auburn, September 6, 1856Knickerbocker and Tri-Mountain, October 11, 1856Knickerbocker and Tri-Mountain, Number 2, October 18, 1856Living in Brooklyn, January 2, 1858Why I Like New York, June 5, 1858The Rival Cities, December 18, 1858A Phase of City Life, October 22, 1859A Housekeeper's Views on Street-Cleaning, December 3, 1859Dear Crazy Gotham, June 22, 1861New York Parks, September 21, 1861Central Park and Boston Common, November 16, 1867About Some Things in New York Which Have Interested Me, from Folly as It Flies, 1868A Morning at Stewart's, from Folly as It Flies, 1868The Working-Girls of New York, from Folly as It Flies, 1868GETTING AWAY FROM THE CITYTrip to the Caatskills, Number One, September 12, 1857Trip to the Caatskills, Number Four, October 3, 1857Notes of a Summer Tour, Number VI, October 9, 1858A Broad Hint to New Haven, August 3, 1867VIII. "Coats and trowsers have the best of it everywhere": On Gendered FashionA Law More Nice than Just, July 10, 1858A Law More Nice than Just, Number II, July 17, 1858Give It Up, January 7, 1860A Voice from the Skating Pond, February 1, 1862Sense and Shoes, February 8, 1862Fashion Edicts, April 26, 1862What May Be Done in the Country, September 14, 1867IX. "What a pity all editors are not

"This collection would fill an important scholarly void by providing an organized collection of Fanny Fern's writings, divided helpfully into topical categories. Scholars and readers no longer will need to search through the disparate sources to find Fern's writings about various subjects. It could be used in American literature course, women's literature course, history courses, women's history courses, journalism courses, and American Studies courses." — Debra Brenegan, author of Shame the Devil: A Novel"Offers academics in the fields of American periodicals and journalism history, as well as lay readers, a selection of writings from a compelling nineteenth-century writer who was perhaps the best-known woman columnist of her era. It would work well in undergraduate courses in journalism, American periodicals, and women’s literature." — Cynthia Patterson, Associate Professor of English, University of South Florida"VanDette's A Fanny Fern Reader offers us a beautifully comprehensive volume of essays from Fanny Fern, who was nineteenth-century America's ruling titan of wit among newspaper columnists, and the highest paid of all of them … And this stunning volume of essays does her justice, providing a modern context for reading the many themes across her oeuvre … This book could be used in history courses, women's and gender studies courses, children's literature, journalism, early American literature, 19C American literature, [and] women writers…" — Christina Katopodis, CUNY Humanities Alliance, Graduate Center, CUNY