沈善寶是清代道光、咸豐年間活躍於江南及北京文壇的女作家。著作豐富，交遊廣闊，負有盛名，對於清代女性文學發展具有相當貢獻。本文考訂沈善寶前期階段之命運遭遇、師友往來、生活遊蹤等重要行誼，按年編次求覈。除依據其全集外，並參考時人詩文別集、史傳方志等相關資料印證之。以呈現沈善寶前期之生命歷程及其思想感情，裨有助於對其作品深入了解。本文繫年起自嘉慶十三年（1808），迄於道光十七年（1837），亦即沈善寶三十歲以前之經歷。

Shen Shanbao was an active and renown woman writer in Beijing and Lower Yangtzu River areas in the 1820s-1840s. She was prolific in writing, kept good relations with many intellectuals, was also important in the development of the history of Qing dynasty woman writings. Putting together Shen’s personal life incidents, her social connections and her poetical works, this article meticulously weaves them into a chronologically arranged biography. Besides her collective writings, this biography also consults items from poetical and prose works of her contemporaries, other biographies and local histories as well, with a view to presenting faithfully her thoughts and emotional life, so as to help the reader to further understand her works. This chronological biography will cover the life of Shen’s first 30 years, that is, from 1808-1837.