The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea

This second volume of the works of Anne Finch presents previously unpublished poems and letters alongside works in Finch's authorised print volume.

Anne Finch (Author), Jennifer Keith (Edited by), Claudia Thomas Kairoff (Edited by)

9781107068650, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 May 2021

798 pages, 7 b/w illus.
22.3 x 14.4 x 4.7 cm, 1.07 kg

'One of the many virtues of the splendid new edition - the fullest ever presentation of Finch's oeuvre - is that it displays more clearly than ever before the extraordinary diversity, versatility, and virtuosity of her talents. The edition is beautifully printed, stoutly bound, and the pages are properly sewn in sections. The edition will be an essential purchase for all serious libraries …' David Hopkins, The Review of English Studies

This is the first ever complete critical edition of the writings of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), including work printed in her lifetime and material left in manuscript form at her death. Textual analysis, based on print and manuscript copies in repositories across the United Kingdom and United States, reveals her revision processes and uses of manuscript and print. Extensive commentary clarifies her techniques, sources, contexts, and diction. A detailed essay traces the history of her works' reception and transmission. The result is a complete view of her achievements that will promote more accurate assessments of her contributions to literary and cultural shifts, including perspectives on literary value, women's equality, religion, and affairs of state. This second volume provides established texts of Finch's later collections in print and manuscript form, Miscellany Poems, on Several Occasions (1713) and The Wellesley Manuscript, as well as uncollected poems and letters.

List of illustrations
Preface and acknowledgments
Chronology
Abbreviations
Note
General introduction Claudia Thomas Kairoff and Jennifer Keith
Textual introduction Jennifer Keith
Account of the texts Jennifer Keith and R. Carter Hailey
From Miscellany Poems, on Several Occasions
The Wellesley Manuscript
Additional poems
Explanatory and textual notes
Correspondence
A reception and transmission history of Finch's work: illustrative cases from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries Rachel Bowman
List of source copies
Select bibliography
Index of titles
Index of first lines.

Subject Areas: Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], Literary studies: plays & playwrights [DSG], Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Plays, playscripts [DD], Poetry by individual poets [DCF], Diaries, letters & journals [BJ]