Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (1788-1879) was an American writer. She is well known as the author of the popular nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb. In 1823, she published a collection of her poems entitled The Genius of Oblivion. From 1827 until 1836, Hale served as editor of Ladies' Magazine in Boston. Her collection Poems for Our Children, which includes the now-famous Mary Had a Little Lamb, was published in 1830, though its original title was Mary's Lamb. In 1837 she began working as editor of Godey's Lady's Book in Philadelphia. Her novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England (1852) was the first novel about slavery. She remained editor at Godey's for forty years, retiring almost at the age of ninety in 1877. She also edited several issues of the annual gift book The Opal.