Early Modern Women's Writing: An Anthology, 1560-1700

by Paul Salzman (Editor)

This anthology is a unique collection of rare women's writing written during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This collection introduces modern readers to the various examples of the work of women writers from these centuries and includes poems, prose and fiction, drama, letters, prophecies, tracts and philosophy. The collection begins with the poetry of Isabella Whitney, who worked in a gentlewoman's household in London in the late 1560s, and ends with Aphra Behn, who was employed as a spy in Amsterdam by Charles II. Also collected here are examples of ten other women writers, allowing the reader to sample the diverse and lively output of all classes and opinions, from aristocrats Mary Wroth, Anne Clifford, and Margaret Cavendish to women of obscure background caught up in the religious ferment of the mid-seventeenth century like Hester Biddle, Priscilla Cotton, and Mary Cole.

The collection offers readers the possibility of tracing patterns through the works as well as a sense of historical shift and change. Each text is newly edited from its original source and includes comprehensive notes, both explanatory and textual.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, Anthologies, History

496 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2000

Reviews

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this anthology for uni, and I've never been so grateful :D.. All of these early modern women have such powerful stories to tell, and they've proven to be very capable of transcending set boundaries and limitations imposed on them at the time. I particularly enjoyed Katherine Philips' personal poems about her own relationships with other women, Aemelia Lanyer's persistent attempts to negotiate her worth among patrons, and Aphra Behn's short work of prose, "The Wandering Beauty", was just such a fascinating and captivating read! Kudos to all of these amazingly powerful women, whose legacies should continue to live on for centuries to come. It's such a shame that most didn't get much of the recognition they deserved while they lived, but it's so inspiring to see how they pursued their passion of writing against all odds and critiques.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always very difficult to decide what to include and exclude in an anthology, especially one published in paperback and therefore limited in space. Paul Salzman has made some intelligent choices here which give us a mix of the canonical (Wroth, Behn) and the less well-known (Cotton & Cole, Biddle). He also crosses genres in a free way to include poetry, plays, letters and prose.

In a brief but cogent introduction Salzman lays out his thinking and sites the collection well. He takes issue with Virginia Woolf's famous diatribe in the 'Judith Shakespeare' part of her A Room of One's Own and pays homage to the ongoing academic project of recuperating women's writing from the early modern period, much of which was circulated in manuscript, or amongst social networks.

The volume introduces each of our women writers with brief biographical details, and a summary of their other works thus putting them into some kind of social, cultural and literary context. It's especially pleasing to see Mary Wroth's 'Love's Victory' printed here.

So this is a fine anthology for both the student and general reader which challenges the assumption that women were 'chaste, silent and obedient' in the sixteenth century, and which allows us to begin to map some of the 'traditions' of women's writing which extend forward into the seventeeth century and beyond.

[Ruby Jusoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not finish this. Does not mean it is not good, though. It is a compilation of writings by female writers from the abovementioned period. These figures are unfamiliar to me - Isabella Whitney, Aemilia Lanyer, Anne Clifford, Mary Wroth, Eleanor Davies, Priscilla Cotton and Mary Cole, Hester Biddle, Margaret Cavendish, Dorothy Osborne, Katherine Philips and Aphra Behn.
~
The poems are very long but beautiful. I enjoyed the style. Very flowery. However, the plays were hard for me to go through. The paragraphs here are just too bulky and long. Hence, I gave up reading the last 50 pages of the book.

[Natasha]

Rain check

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been better if it had line numbers. . .and footnotes

[rivaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Joti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology - read a bunch of stuff from it for my Early Modern Women Writer's course. I really enjoyed Margaret Cavendish's Bell in Campo and Aphra Behn. Would definitely recommend this - it's got some awesome stuff. I mean, women writers in the early modern era - what's not to love?