Episode 410: Mary Beth Norton, The World’s First Personal Advice Column

When did people begin seeking anonymous advice for their most profound personal dilemmas?

What can the answers to their early questions tell us about the emotional lives of people in the past?

We’re traveling back in time to 1690s England to explore the world’s first personal advice column, The Athenian Mercury. This two-sided broadsheet publication invited readers to send in questions about anything–from science and religion to love and marriage– and its creators, a small group of Londoners who dubbed themselves the “Athenian Society,” answered these queries with a surprising blend of wit, morality, and insight.

Joining us for this investigation is Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emerita at Cornell University and an award-winning historian who is a trailblazer in the field of early American women’s history. She’s also the author of “I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer”: Letters on Love & Marriage from the World’s First Personal Advice Column.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Episode Summary

Mary Beth Norton is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emerita at Cornell University. She’s an award-winning historian who has served as the President of the American Historical Association, she’s also a pioneer in the field of women’s history. She joins us today to explore love, marriage, and courtship through her book, “I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer: Letters on Love & Marriage from the World’s First Personal Advice Column.

During our exploration, Mary Beth reveals why the 1690s were ripe for the invention of a personal advice column. What readers’ anonymous questions tell us about gender, love, marriage, and courtship in the late seventeenth century. And, how the Athenians’ seventeenth-century advice echoes many of the same concerns we still write to columnists about today.

What You’ll Discover

The world’s first personal advice column
The Athenian Mercury and its interest in early America
The idea for the world’s first personal advice column
English society by the late 1690s
The audience for the world’s first personal advice column
Coffeehouses in late 1690s England
John Dutton and his papers
Courtship rituals and culture in late seventeenth-century England
Parental consent for marriage
Dating in late seventeenth-century England
Sexual assault and affairs in seventeenth-century England
How to find a “good husband” in the colonies
What made a good husband in the late seventeenth century
Marriage during the 1690s
Divorce in 1690s England

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the world’s first personal advice column had originated in British North America instead of in England? What differences might we have seen in this hypothetical American version?