Women's Writing and the Circulation of Ideas
Manuscript Publication in England, 1550–1800

This book examines the writing and manuscript publication of key authors from 1550 to 1800.

George L. Justice (Edited by), Nathan Tinker (Edited by)

9780521808569, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 March 2002

256 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.55 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Vital reading for anyone interested in the material conditions of publication in early modern England.' British Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies

It was widely believed that women in Renaissance and early modern England either did not write, or did not publish their work. It has become clear that instead of using the emerging technology of print, many women writers circulated their works by hand, with friends copying and recopying poems, plays and novels from each other or with the help of professional scribes. Through manuscript publication, women's writing reached wide audiences and was collected and admired by both men and women. Women's Writing and the Circulation of Ideas contributes to the discovery and re-evaluation of women writers by examining the writing and manuscript publication of key authors from 1550 to 1800. The collection's analysis of the range and meaning of women's writing and manuscript publication during the rise of the print industry alters our understanding of the history of the book and early modern British literature alike.

List of illustrations
Note on contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction George L. Justice
2. The Countess of Pembroke's agency in print and scribal culture Margaret P. Hannay
3. Circulating the Sidney–Pembroke psalter Debra Rienstra and Noel Kinnamon
4. Creating female authorship in the early seventeenth century: Ben Jonson and Lady Mary Wroth Michael G. Brennan
5. Medium and meaning in the manuscripts of Anne, Lady Southwell Victoria E. Burke
6. The posthumous publication of women's manuscripts and the history of authorship Margaret J. M. Ezell
7. Jane Barker's Jacobite writings Leigh A. Eicke
8. Elizabeth Singer Rowe's tactical use of print and manuscript Kathryn R. King
9. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and her daughter: the changing use of manuscripts Isobel Grundy
10. Suppression and censorship in late manuscript culture: Frances Burney's unperformed The Witlings George L. Justice
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Literary studies: general [DSB]