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738 BIOGRAPHY.
the “Sketches.” For the publication thereof she caused ne-
gotiations to be opened —I do not know for what reason—
with a publisher in Stockholm, to whom the manuscript
was sent for perusal. He declined the proposal, — so un-
certain were people at that time about the value of Fre-
drika’s works. But through the instrumentality of the
former publisher, Mr. Palmblad, the second volume was
printed and published in 1830. The great applause with
which it was received, the sensation which it created, sur-
passed every thing which Fredrika thought she could have
expected. Ina newspaper review, Swedish literature was
congratulated on the acquisition os such a talent as that
of the authoress.
Fredrika’s authorship had, from the very beginning,
been kept a secret between her and her sisters. She did
not wish to reveal it to our parents until she knew whether
she would succeed. But now she thought that the time
had come to mention it to my mother. Meanwhile the
book had become the subject of general conversation in all
circles of socicty in Stockholm. When one day Franzén,
while paying us a visit, spoke of it in a highly flattering
manner, expressing an ardent wish to raise the veil behind
which the authorcss concealed herself, my mother and
Fredrika thought that, out of consideration for this old
friend of the family, the secret ought to be confided to him.
Shortly after this, the Swedish Academy awarded its lesser
gold medal to Fredrika, as a token of its esteem and ap-
probation. Thus the hitherto preserved secret of the
authorship was revealed.
The success which also the third volume of these
“Sketches” met with seemed to point out the road on which
Fredrika had to find the realization of her mission in life.
She obeyed this call, by laboring diligently as an authoress,
at shorter or longer intervals, until the end of her life.
Most of her works were translated into foreign languages,
were read with avidity, and made her name known, loved,
and respected abroad.
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