Abstract
Before she made her name as the author of a series of popular historical novels, Anna Maria Porter (1778-1832) was celebrated, and sometimes disparaged, as a literary prodigy. While still a teenager, she published two collections of stories, both entitled Artless Tales. Porter published the first volume by subscription in 1793. Her family bore the publication expenses for the second volume, which was printed and sold by Hookham and Carpenter in 1795. This second volume was reprinted in 1796 with a revised preface and a new subtitle, Romantic Effusions of the Heart.