The First Woman in the RepublicFor half a century Lydia Maria Child was a household name in the United States. Hardly a sphere of nineteenth century life can be found in which Lydia Maria Child did not figure prominently as a pathbreaker. Although best known today for having edited Harriet A. Jacobss Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she pioneered almost every department of nineteenth century American lettersthe historical novel, the short story, childrens literature, the