“Her Story”

Abstract

In the Fall of 2017 our literary studies class compounded a critical edition of “Her Story,” a short story written by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford in the late 19th century. We were tasked with reading the original text and dissecting it through several views. Each group was assigned a different section to research including, the author, contemporaneous literature, contemporaneous criticism, historical contexts, and modern criticism. Through literary and internet research of this text, it was discovered that Prescott was an early advocate for women’s equality, expression of sexuality, art, and one of the first female detective story authors. Despite her accomplishments and progressive attitude expressed in her literary works, she is not as widely known today as other contemporaneous authors like, Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson. Therefore, it took some digging to find all the information necessary for putting together a proper critical edition. In this presentation we will show the highlights of the critical edition. The critical edition includes the text itself with footnote explanations of important words and events, as well as compilations of information from the five main topics of focus. In the end we were left with a complete anthology of “Her Story” and all things Spofford in one accessible digital format open to all.