Anne Bradstreet in Context

<p> The collection <I>The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America</I> by Anne Bradstreet--the first book of poetry published by a permanent resident of colonial America--appeared in 1650 thanks to the support of Bradstreet's brother-in-law. By this time she had immigrated to New England with her husband; given birth to seven of her eight children; settled on her fifth and final homestead; and gained access to a network of influential Puritan leaders via the various positions held by her father husband brothers and brothers-in-law within the Massachusetts Bay Colony government. </p><p> This study of Bradstreet explores the literary religious political social and familial contexts of colonial America that shaped her life and work. Bradstreet embraced her identity as a poet of her time drawing inspiration from earlier writers as well as her contemporaries who used a common set of stylistic conventions to explore themes of love faith loss and mortality. Given the scarcity of recent scholarship on Bradstreet this book is designed as a versatile resource--a blend of biography literary analysis history genealogy reference and textbook--that situates Bradstreet's poetry within the greater context of the seventeenth century. </p>