'The Female Marine' in an Era of Good Feelings: Cross-Dressing and the 'Genius' of Nathaniel Coverly, Jr.

'The Female Marine' was a series of three linked narratives, first published in 1815, that told the story of a young woman from rural Massachusetts who overcame "the stigma of a youthful seduction" through a heroic naval career in the War of 1812 and then a happy marriage. Written at the behest of Boston printer Nathaniel Coverly, Jr. - perhaps by Nathaniel Hill Wright - the book and its sequels became bestsellers in Boston during 1815-18. The story reflected both the optimism of the Era of Good Feelings and the anxieties arising from the spread of vice in Boston as well as from New England's disloyalty in the War of 1812. The appendixes document its publishing history and iconography.