Anne Wales Abbot (1808-1908)

Biography
Anne Wales Abbott or, Abbot (April 10, 1808 – June 1, 1908) was a game designer, magazine editor, literary reviewer, and author. She was born 10 April 1808, the daughter of Reverend Abiel Abbott, a Beverly, Massachusetts clergyman, and Eunice Abbott.

Abbott designed the hugely popular card game Dr. Busby, which was published by W. & S. B. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts that sold 15,000 copies in its first eighteen months and "Master Roddenbury" through W. & S.B. Ives in 1844.

In July 1850, Abbott reviewed Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter for the North American Review, declaring she liked the preface better than the tale. Abbott disapproved of Hawthorne's subject matter and believed he had allowed his good judgement to be carried away by "the magic power of the style." Hawthorne referred to Abbott as one of that "damned mob of scribbling women."

Abbott served gratuitously as editor (1851–1858) of The Child's Friend, a literary journal for young people. Profits from the publication were directed to the relief of indigent and neglected children.

In 1853, Abbott's Autumn Leaves: Original Pieces in Prose and Verse was published by John Bartlett of Cambridge. Children's books by Abbott include Doctor Busby and His Neighbors, Kate and Lizzie, or Six Months Out of School, Lost Wheelbarrow and Other Stories, and The Tamed and the Untamed and Other Stories.

Abbott died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1 June 1908.