Sanford gained her AB from
Radcliffe College in 1916. Following some years at
Yale University (1917-1919), Sanford obtained her MA and PhD from
Harvard University in 1922 and 1923 with the thesis "Quibus rationibus auctorum Latinorum opera in libris manuscriptis collecta sint". Sanford's work focused on the translation, understanding, and transmission of the medieval sources for classical literature. She was the section editor for commentaries of Latin authors 1300–1600 in the
Bibliographical Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Commentaries and Translations of Classical Authors and also consulting editor for the
Corpus of Roman Law. Sanford was also engaged in early work on finger signs in calculations in antiquity and published a text on the subject in 1928. Before she died, Sanford was in the process of translating the
De Civitate Dei of
Augustine for the
Loeb Classical Library. Her work on books XVI-XVIII was subsequently completed by William M. Green and published as
LCL 415 in 1965. An obituary for Sanford was published in the
American Historical Review in July 1954. == Select publications ==