7. What is the title of Anne Bradstreet's collection of poems published in 1650, a book that seems to have been published without her permission or knowledge, and a book that made her the first published New Englander?
From Quiz Anne Bradstreet: Poems from Early America
Answer:
The Tenth Muse, lately Sprung Up in America
Anne Bradstreet, nee Dudley, (1612-1672) was born to a well-off Puritan family in Northampton, England, traveled with her husband on board the Arbella with John Winthrop to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Following Winthrop's long tenure as governor, Bradstreet became governor himself.
Her book--"The Tenth Muse, lately Sprung Up in America"--was supposedly published without her knowledge. However, a letter to the publisher of this book suggests that she is giving permission for its publication. Some believe that she maintained ignorance of her book's being published on purpose so as to protect herself from censure from her Puritan community. While much of her godly and spiritual poetry would have been acceptable to a Puritan audience, her society believed that writing was a man's profession. Furthermore, the knowledge required to write the structurally sophisticated poetry she wrote, as well as to discuss the topics she discussed, was not typical of a woman; women were not supposed to pursue knowledge and academics to the extent that men did. Perhaps, too, she did not wish to hinder her husband's political prospects.
Her second publication of "The Tenth Muse, lately Sprung Up in America" was truly published without her knowledge or without her permission. Her brother-in-law, the Reverend John Woodridge, took her manuscript to England without her knowing it and republished it in a more sophisticated binding and cover. After learning of this, she was at first upset and embarrassed, but soon warmed to what had happened, as the book was well reviewed and began making money.
"The Tenth Muse, lately Sprung Up in America" is the only collection of Bradstreet's poetry published during her lifetime; however, she wrote other poems that are considered parts of other collections.