-Lydia Maria Francis Child (born Lydia Maria Francis) (February 11, 1802 - October 20, 1880), was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories. Despite these challenges, Child may be most remembered for her poem "Over the River and Through the Wood." Her...

Legends of New-England was John Greenleaf Whittier's first book, published in 1831. It includes Whittier's retelling of eighteen legends that were current in his time, some in prose and some in poetry.

It is of interest because it is Whittier's earliest work, because it lets us look at early American folk legends, and because the stories themselves are fascinating. It has some of the earliest tales of the supernatural in American literature, which compare with Poe's and Hawthorne's stories.

Given Whittier's importance as an American writer, it is surprising that this book has...