The Shelves of Yore: The most famous woman you've never heard of

While reviewing the hundreds of books in the Atheneum's library catalogue from 1900, Jim noticed 19 volumes by a writer by the name of Harriet Martineau. In some cases, there was a record of more than one copy, indicating that her books must have been very popular among patrons at the time. Jim was surprised he had never heard of her before. So he went looking for more and discovered the extraordinary life of a woman that has all but been forgotten except by academics and historians.

So who is this mysterious Miss Martineau?


References and more information:
Harriet Martineau's 9-page Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Martineau

Writers/thought leaders who influenced Miss Martineau:

• David Ricardo
• Adam Smith
• James Mill. 
• Thomas Malthus
• Jeremy Bentham. 

Miss Martineau's  works that popularized the ideas and theory of great thinkers:

• Illustrations of Political Economy, 9 volumes, published by Charles Fox, 1832-4
• Illustrations of Taxation, 5 volumes, published by Charles Fox, 1832-4
• Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated (1833-4)

source: https://victorianweb.org/authors/martineau/diniejko.html

The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org