John Woodbridge

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Rev. John Woodbridge was Anne Bradstreet's brother-in-law. In 1647, he sailed to England, carrying her manuscript of poetry without her knowledge. He had it published in London as "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up into America, by a Gentlewoman in such Parts".^{[1] [2]}

The purpose of the publication appears to have been an attempt by devout Puritan men (i.e. Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, and himself) to show that a godly and educated woman could elevate the position held by a wife and mother, without necessarily placing her in competition with men.^[3]

The publication was unauthorized, and reportedly, on the publication of Anne Bradstreet's The Tenth Muse(1650), he wrote: "I feare the displeasure of no person in the publishing of these Poems but the Author's, without whose knowledge, and contrary to her expectation, I have presumed to bring to publick view what she resolved should never in such as manner see the Sun."^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ Woodlief, A. (n.d.). Biography of Anne Bradstreet Retrieved September 1, 2006. from http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Bradstreet/bradbio.htm
2. ^ White, Elizabeth (1971). Anne Bradstreet: "The Tenth Muse". New York: Oxford University Press, 255-6. ISBN 9780195014402. 
3. ^ Ezell, Margaret (1999). Social Authorship and the Advent of Print. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 49. ISBN 9780801861390. .
4. ^ Ezell, Margaret (1999). Social Authorship and the Advent of Print. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 45. ISBN 9780801861390. .