author
Mary Griffith
d. 1846
A French-born American writer who turned a sharp eye toward science, gardening, and social change, she moved easily between literary storytelling and real-world observation. She is especially remembered for Three Hundred Years Hence, often noted as the first known utopian novel by an American woman.
1 Audiobook
Camperdown; or, News from our neighbourhood
by Mary Griffith
About the author
Mary Griffith (1772–1846), born Mary Corré, was a writer, horticulturist, and scientist whose work crossed the boundaries between literature and practical inquiry. After coming to the United States as a child, she later wrote fiction as well as articles and studies for journals and newspapers.
Following her husband's death, she spent time in New Jersey and New York and pursued wide-ranging experiments in horticulture, natural history, optics, and other scientific subjects. That mix of curiosity and discipline shaped both her nonfiction and her storytelling.
Her books include Our Neighborhood, Camperdown, Discoveries in Light and Vision, and The Two Defaulters. She is best known today for Three Hundred Years Hence, originally published within Camperdown, which has drawn lasting attention as an early American utopian work by a woman writer.