Jeannette Leonard Gilder, who often wrote under the pen name Brunswick, was a prominent American author, journalist, critic, and editor active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in 1849, Gilder established herself as a versatile force in American letters, serving as a regular correspondent and literary critic for the Chicago Tribune. Her journalistic reach extended to numerous other major publications of her era, including the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette, the Boston Transcript, the Philadelphia Record, and the Press.
Beyond her work as a correspondent, Gilder was a significant editorial figure. She owned and edited The Reader: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine and collaborated on several notable literary compilations. Alongside her brother, Joseph Benson Gilder, she edited Representative Poems of Living Poets. She also co-edited Essays from the Critic with Helen Gray Cone, and compiled other volumes such as Pen Portraits of Literary Women and the poetry anthology The Heart of Youth.
As a creative writer, Gilder authored several books, including the novel Taken by Siege and her popular semi-autobiographical works, Autobiography of a Tomboy and The Tomboy at Work. Through her extensive criticism, editorial leadership, and personal narratives, Gilder became a key figure in shaping the literary landscape of her time. She passed away in 1916, leaving behind a legacy of pioneering work for women in American journalism and publishing.