The Wylies’ January, 1869 Edition of “The Ladies’ Own Magazine”

Editted by M. Cora Bland, this first edition of “The Ladies’ Own Magazine” was published in Indianapolis in 1869. The left page shown, Page 10, featured the conclusion of the short story, “Thorn Malcolm’s Dream”. Providing insights into nineteenth-century perceptions of widowhood, the narrative centered on a woman who discovered a widowed, destitute mother and child living in her husband’s barn. While the conditions of nineteenth-century widowhood varied considerably, as seen through the experiences of the three women, magazines and novelists often reiterated the cultural expectation of desolation following the death or abandonment of a husband.

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