Martha Meredith Read
Martha Meredith Read was an early nineteenth-century American writer from Philadelphia, notable for her contributions to literature during a time when women's voices were often marginalized. Born to a prominent family, with her father serving as a brigadier general in the Revolutionary War and the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, Read married John Read, Jr., in 1796 and raised five children. Shortly after her marriage, she began her writing career, with her first novel, *Monima: Or, the Beggar Girl*, debuting in 1800 in *The Lady's Monitor* and later published in full under the pseudonym "An American Lady." Her works, including *A Second Vindication of the Rights of Women* and *Margaretta: Or, The Intricacies of the Heart*, often addressed pressing social and political issues of her time, such as the French Revolution, slave uprisings, and public health crises. Through her narratives, Read aimed to depict women as independent and politically engaged, positioning herself among the early American female literary pioneers. Her ability to intertwine romance with critical social commentary highlights her significance in the landscape of early American literature.
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Subject Terms
Martha Meredith Read
Writer
- Born: 1773?
- Birthplace: United States
- Died: 1816?
Biography
Martha Meredith Read, an early nineteenth century writer, grew up in Philadelphia. Her mother was Margaret Cadwalder Meredith and her father, Samuel Meredith, was a brigadier general during the Revolutionary War and served as the first United States secretary of the treasury. She married John Read, Jr., in 1796, and the couple had five children.
Soon after her marriage, Read began writing. In 1800, the first chapter of her novel titled Monima: Or, the Beggar Girl ran in the first issue of the New York periodical The Lady’s Monitor. The Lady’s Monitor continued to publish subsequent chapters of Monima until the paper was sold to P. Heard. Heard published Monima in its entirety in a single volume with Read identified in the byline as “An American Lady.” Monima, like many of Read’s works, was a romantic novel which commented on social and political issues of the time such as the French terror, the slave rebellion in Saint Domingue, and the yellow fever epidemic.
Read only published two other books during her writing career: A Second Vindication of the Rights of Women, which was serialized in The Lady’s Monitor, and Margaretta: Or, The Intricacies of the Heart, which was serialized and then published in its entirety in 1807. Through her written works, Read strove to portray the early nineteenth century woman as independent and active in politics. The quality of her work, combined with her historically accurate portrayal of social and political concerns at the beginning of the nineteenth century, established Read as one of the forerunners of early American female writers.