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Primary sourceBook1797

The Female Review: Life of Deborah Sampson

Herman Mann · 1797

Herman Mann's 1797 biography of Deborah Sampson, written with her cooperation, shown here as its frontispiece and title page.

The founding biography of Sampson's life, written during her lifetime with her cooperation.

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Scan of an open book showing a left page with an engraved oval portrait of a young woman with long wavy hair and a ruffled collar, framed by military trophies and an eagle, labeled Deborah Sampson, Published by H. Mann, 1797. Right page is the title page: The Female Review: Or, Memoirs of an American Young Lady, By a Citizen of Massachusetts, Dedham, Printed by Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton, M,DCC,XCVII.
Herman Mann, The Female Review: Life of Deborah Sampson, 1797. Frontispiece and title page.

About this source

What it is

This is the opening of The Female Review, a biography of Deborah Sampson published in 1797 by Herman Mann. The scan shows an engraved oval portrait of Sampson facing the title page of the book, printed in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Why it matters

Mann wrote this book while Sampson was still alive and with her involvement, making it the first and most influential account of her life as a soldier in the American Revolution. It shaped how later generations understood her story, even though it contains embellishments.

Look closer

  • Why might Mann have included military trophies and an eagle around Sampson's portrait?
  • What does it mean that Sampson cooperated with the writing of her own biography?
  • How might a book written with its subject's help differ from one written after her death?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Deborah Sampson on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Black-and-white engraving titled Deborah Sampson, published by H. Mann, 1797. An oval portrait of a young woman with long curled hair and a high-collared dress sits within a decorative frame topped with flags, a wreath, and an eagle at the base.Painting

Primary source

Deborah Sampson Engraving

1797

Oval engraved portrait of a young woman with long wavy hair, wearing a high-collared ruffled white neckerchief and a striped dress with a sash, set within a decorative oval border with foliage.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Deborah Sampson

Joseph Stone · 1797

Cover of a dark marbled-paper bound booklet with a maroon spine and a small label reading E 275 G18. A cream octagonal label in handwriting reads: An Address delivered at Federal St. Theatre, Boston, By Mrs. Deborah Gannet, The American heroine. Publications of the Sharon historical Society.Speech

Primary source

An Address, Delivered with Applause, at the Federal-Street Theatre, Boston

Deborah Sampson Gannett · 1802

Plain dark red cloth book cover with a white Library of Congress barcode label near the lower right, reading LIBRARY OF CONGRESS and the number 00017379653 with a red dot.Book

Secondary source

The Female Review (Vinton edition)

Herman Mann; edited by John Adams Vinton · 1866

Black-and-white photograph of a granite monument with a bronze plaque showing a relief portrait bust of a woman with long wavy hair. The plaque reads Deborah Sampson Gannett, Woman Soldier in the War of the Revolution, and describes her service and pension, and that it was placed by her grandson George Washington Gay. Cemetery grass and trees are in the background.Photograph

Secondary source

Monument to Deborah Sampson Gannett, Rock Ridge Cemetery

Leon H. Abdalian

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