page_title: 1876 in poetry
section_title: The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public
hierarchical_section_title: 1876 in poetry / Works published in English / United States / The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public
caption_attribution_description: English: Engraving of Julia A. Moore.
context_page_description: Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
context_section_description: This year Poetaster Julia A. Moore's first book of verse, The Sentimental Song Book, was published in Grand Rapids, and  quickly went into a second printing. A copy fell into the hands of one James F. Ryder, a Cleveland, Ohio, publisher who recognized its awful majesty and soon republished it under the title The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public. Ryder sent out numerous review copies to newspapers across the country, with a cover letter filled with low key mock praise.
  And so Moore received national attention. Following Ryder's lead, contemporary reviews were amusedly negative.  For instance, The Rochester Democrat wrote of Sweet Singer, that "Shakespeare, could he read it, would be glad that he was dead …. If Julia A. Moore would kindly deign to shed some of her poetry on our humble grave, we should be but too glad to go out and shoot ourselves tomorrow."
caption: Mrs. Moore
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