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Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard

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2294008Woman of the Century — Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard

STODDARD, Mrs. Elizabeth Barstow, author, born in Mattapoisett, Mass., 6th May, 1823. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Barstow. She received a thorough education in various boarding-schools and in her school-days showed her bent towards poetry and literature in general. In 1857 she became the wife of Richard Henry Stoddard, the author. Soon after her marriage she began to publish poems in all the leading magazines, and ever since she has been a frequent contributor. Her verses are of a high order. She has written for intellectual readers alone. She has never collected the numerous poems she has published in the periodicals, although there are enough of them to fill a large volume. In addition to her poetical productions, she has published three remarkable novels: "The Morgesons" (New York, 1862); "Two Men" (1865), and "Temple House" (1867). Those books did not find a large sale when first published, but a second edition, published in 1888, found a wider circle of readers. They are pictures of New England seen fry and character, and they will hereafter become standard works. In 1874 she published "Lolly Dinks's Doings." a juvenile story.