To My Dear and Loving Husband (For Further Study)

For Further Study

• Douglas, Emily Taft, Remember the Ladies: The Story of Great Women Who Helped Shape America, New York: Putnam, 1966.

  As the title indicates, the tone of this book is quite more patronizing toward female authors than is generally seen in more contemporary studies; still, the sheer range of women covered here, putting Brad-street in a category with Eleanor Roosevelt and Isadora Duncan, makes this source worthwhile.

• Dudley, Thomas, “Problems of Settlement,” The Puritan Tradition in America, 1620-1730, edited by Alden T. Vaughan, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1972. pp. 59-63.

  This brief excerpt, written by Anne Bradstreet’s father (who came from England with her) describes the starvation and freezing faced by the Puritans on their arrival. This whole book consists of first-person accounts of America’s early days.

• Dunham, Montrew, Anne Bradstreet: Young Puritan Poet, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1969.

  Although this book is actually written for children in primary school, it is one of the few sources to concentrate on the poet’s childhood before she left England.

• Hammond, Jeffrey, Sinful Self, Saintly Self: The Puritan Experience of Poetry, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1993.

  Hammond’s book explores the religious determinism that shaped Bradstreet’s thought and defined her experience.

• Miller, Perry, Orthodoxy in Massachusetts, 1630-1650, Evanston, IL: Harper Torchbook, 1933.

  The interesting thing about this history is the way that it treats religion as a political tool, showing how the Puritan way of thought evolved into the American way of social interaction.

• Piercy, Josephine K., Anne Bradstreet, New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1965.

  This is a very thorough and basic overview of Bradstreet’s life and the critical reception of her oeuvre.

• Rosenmeier, Rosamond, Anne Bradstreet Revisited, Boston: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1991.

  A companion piece to Piercy’s book, this corrects some historical inaccuracies and takes a more psychological approach to Bradstreet, using newer materials.

• Stanford, Ann, Anne Bradstreet, The Worldly Puritan: An Introduction to Her Poetry, New York: B. Franklin, 1975.

  A respected survey of the poet and her work that is written at a level appropriate for readers who are not familiar with Bradstreet.