Harriette Newell Woods Baker

One of the most prolific -- and most forgotten -- authors of early nineteenth-century series for children was Harriette Newell Woods Baker. She was born in Andover, Massachusetts, on 19 August 1815 to Leonard and Abby Woods. Like a number of other nineteenth-century female series authors, Baker came from an educated family: according to the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, her father, Dr. Woods, "was the first professor in Andover Theological Seminary, and afterward [its] president." Also like several other series authors, Baker began writing at an early age. She had her first story published in Youth's Companion when she was only ten, and, consequently, submitted other material to the Companion.

Baker was astonishingly -- some would say appallingly -- prolific, anonymously or pseudonomously writing approximately "two hundred works," (NCAB) at least half of which were children's books, most in series. Her first two series, Little Frankie and Robin Redbreast (six volumes each) were published in 1860 under the pseudonym Mrs. Madeline Leslie; these were small volumes, intended for the very young, as were "Aunt Hattie's Library for Girls" and "Aunt Hattie's Library for Boys," published later in the decade under her other pseudonym, "Aunt Hattie."

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Copyright 1999 Deidre Johnson