The Heroines of History

What it is

This is a book titled The Heroines of History, published in 1851 by Alden, Beardsley and Company in Auburn, New York. Its title page names John S. Jenkins, who began the work but died before finishing it. The publisher's notice says the first chapter is his and the rest was written by another person he chose. The audio here is not a recording of Jenkins or of Joan. It is a LibriVox volunteer reading of the text, made recently and released to the public domain.

Why it matters

The book shows how a mid-19th-century American publisher packaged European history for readers, presenting women such as Isabella of Castile and Marie Antoinette as heroines. The notice mentions older works used as sources, including Monstrelet's Chronicles and Madame Roland's Appeal, showing that the author relied on earlier writers.

Look closer

• The notice says the book was finished by someone other than its named author. How might that affect the stories?
• Which sources does the publisher name, and what kinds of people wrote them?
• Why might a book about heroines be read aloud by volunteers today, and how is that different from the original reader's experience?