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

Establishing the text of works in Anne Finch's early manuscript book, this first volume includes previously unpublished poetry and surviving plays.

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

9781107068605, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2019

980 pages, 5 b/w illus. 3 tables
22.3 x 14.8 x 5.5 cm, 1.28 kg

'… a major event in English literary studies … The literary world is fortunate that Finch's complicated canon met its match in the editorial skills and intellectual commitment of Jennifer Keith and the team of talented experts she assembled … Anne Finch's poetry is the expression of her heart, the expression of an age, and the expression of the general human condition. In other words, she is a major poet whose works are finally accorded in this edition the establishment of texts and contexts needed for literary history to begin to acknowledge that fact.' Elizabeth Kraft, The Scriblerian

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 the 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 first volume provides established texts of Finch's early manuscript books, including Poems on Several Subjects and Miscellany Poems with Two Plays written under her pen name, Ardelia.

List of illustrations
Preface and acknowledgments
Chronology
Abbreviations
Note
General introduction Claudia Thomas Kairoff, Jennifer Keith and Jean I. Marsden
Textual introduction Jennifer Keith
Account of the texts Jennifer Keith
Works excluded from this edition Molly Hand and Jennifer Keith
From Poems on Several Subjects written by Ardelia (The Northamptonshire Manuscript)
Miscellany Poems with Two Plays by Ardelia (The Folger Manuscript)
Some peices out of the First Act of the Aminta of Tasso
The Triumphs of Love and Innocence: a tragecomedy
Aristomenes, or the Royal Shepheard: a tragedy
Aditional Poems Cheifly upon Subjects Devine and Moral
Explanatory and textual notes
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]