Women, authorship and literary culture, 1690-1740 / Sarah Prescott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Prescott, Sarah, 1968-

Contributor:

Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Women authors--History and criticism.

English literature.

English literature--Women authors.

Women and literature--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Women and literature.

Women authors, English--Social conditions.

Women authors, English.

Authorship--Social aspects.

Authorship.

Women authors, English--Economic conditions.

Authorship--Economic aspects.

Great Britain.

History.

Women and literature--Great Britain--History--17th century.

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

Authorship--Economic aspects--Great Britain.

Authorship--Social aspects--Great Britain.

Authorship--Sex differences.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--18th century.

Intellectual life.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--17th century.

Physical Description:

x, 237 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

The dominant model of female authorship in the period 1690-1740 is London-centred, professional and fiction-oriented. In this engaging study, Sarah Prescott argues that alternative contexts for publication and different models of authorship were equally influential in shaping women's involvement in literary culture. In addition to acknowledging the impact of literary London on the careers, images and publication patterns of a variety of women writers, Prescott stresses the importance of provincial networks and non-metropolitan literary systems. The focus on alternative locations and contexts as influences on women writers does not mean that the commercial side of female authorship is neglected. Rather, women could use provincialism, and all it implied, as a way to shape their literary authority and market their work. This study provides an exciting and thought-provoking revision of our current conceptions of women's participation in literary culture.

Contents:

Introduction: Relocating Women's Literary History 1

Part I Women and Authorship

1 Authorship for Women: Careers and Contexts 15

2 Negotiating Authorship: Women's Self-Representations 39

Part II Authorship and Economics

3 Marketing the Woman Writer: Commercial Strategies 69

4 Making a Living: Booksellers, Patronage and Subscription 103

Part III The Literary Career of Elizabeth Singer Rowe

5 Gender, Authorship and Whig Poetics 141

6 Provincial Networks, Dissenting Connections and Noble Friends 167.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-224) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

1403903239

OCLC:

51275185