Harriet Martineau (1802-76) was a British social theorist and writer, often cited as the first female sociologist. She wrote many books and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic, and, most controversially, feminist perspective. She also translated works by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, and earned enough to support herself entirely from her writing, a rare feat for a woman in the Victorian era. After her family's textile business failed in 1829, Martineau set about earning a living by selling articles to the Monthly Repository, quickly establishing herself as a popular and reliable freelance writer. Her first commissioned book was Illustrations of Political Economy (1832), a fictional tutorial intended to help the general public understand the ideas of Adam Smith, which led to a series of similar monthly stories over the next two years. Upon moving from Norwich to London in 1832 Martineau soon became acquainted with many of the leading figures of the day in the fields of social reform, economics, science and literature, and in 1834, after completing her series on economics, she paid a long visit to the US. On her return she published several books on her findings: Society in America (1837), How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838), both considered significant contributions to the emerging field of sociology, and the more personal account of her trip, Retrospect of Western Travel, published in two volumes in 1838. Martineau was also the author of works of fiction for both children and adults, her best known novel being Deerbrook (1838). In 1839 she was diagnosed with a uterine tumour and her later years were plagued with ill-health although she continued her political activism and remained a prolific writer. In 1855, suffering from heart disease, she began her autobiography, and fearing her life was near its end she completed it within three months, postponing publication until after her death. She went on to live for a further two decades and it was published posthumously in 1877. Reprinted from Volume I of Retrospect of Western Travel published by Saunders & Otley, London, in 1838, and sold by Harper & Brothers, New York.

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