Hannah Webster Foster (September 10, 1758 – April 17, 1840

An American novelist.  Her epistolary novel, The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton, was published anonymously in 1797. Although it topped the American bestseller lists of the 1790s, it was not until 1866 that her name appeared on the title page. In 1798 she published The Boarding School; or, Lessons of a Preceptress to Her Pupils, a commentary on female education in the United States.