Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology Reprint Edition

Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology Reprint Edition book cover

Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology Reprint Edition

Author(s): Roger Lonsdale

  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publication Date: November 15, 1990
  • Edition: Reprint
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 608 pages
  • ISBN-10: 0192827758
  • ISBN-13: 9780192827753

Book Description

In the first decade of the eighteenth century, only two women published collections of verse. By the 1790s, more than thirty had done so. Yet, in the two intervening centuries, most of that verse has disappeared from view--now either ignored or forgotten.
This delightful anthology takes us back to Augustan England, introducing over one hundred of these lost poets from Lady Mary Chudleigh and Octavia Walsh to Mary Locke and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Their poetry speaks with vigor and immediacy, in a range of moods from the resentful and melancholic to the humorous and exuberant, as they unveil their individual worlds to us. They came from all levels of society--including washerwomen and duchesses--and from both the town and country. The volume reveals that as eighteenth-century women poets gained confidence, their writing eventually spanned a variety of poetic forms and encompassed both public and private topics.
Eighteenth-Century Women Poets offers a compelling reassessment of a neglected aspect of eighteenth-century literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`not just a marvellous piece of scholarship but as richly entertaining and original a book as I have come across for some time. Out of the dust of the Bodleian Dr Lonsdale has resurrected more than a hundred witty women and set them glistening and pulsing with life and spirits before us; and through their fresh and often subversive eyes, the Augustan age seems much closer than it did ... Feminists will want to thank Lonsdale for restoring Mrs Browning's poetic ancestors, but not feminists alone. Historians will find rich material, and so will the general reader prepared to browse and surrender to the many different idioms, rhythms and personalities revealed here ... The book has more that one useful index, notes and an informative introduction.' Claire Tomalin, The Independent'This new anthology should disturb many literary preconceptions with its forceful and charming discoveries.' Independent'a delight to read ... The selections are carefully balanced ... This is a brilliant and original anthology and, despite its editor's occasional demurs, makes a major contribution to feminist literary studies.' Julia Briggs, The Times'not just a marvellous piece of scholarship but as richly entertaining and original a book as I have come across for some time' Independent'a revelation of talent, wit and anger from unknown writers who often seem more alive than our contemporaries' Claire Tomalin, Observer'Not only is there variety, there are also poets that this reviewer had never heard of, and there are discoveries.' Malcolm Rutherford, Financial Times`an unpredictable anthology which is hard to put down once you open it. Over 500 meaty pages revive a hundred or so women poets and poetic women, washerwomen, duchesses, obedient wives and wayward wenches, who have been lost to literature for 200 years. The useful and illuminating introduction gives an unusual variety of contemporary attitudes to women.' Oxford Today'I was delighted by this collection' Janet Barron, Literary Review'Beguiling and entertaining anthology.' The Observer`This sparkling collection of more than 100 witty women in the great age of wit combines the well-known with the strangely neglected.' Independent on Sunday'a rich array of neglected talent ... Dr Lonsdale's scholarship has uncovered a rich seam in our poetic inheritance' Andrew Swarbrick, Oxford Times'He has unearthed a rich array of neglected talent ... The volume as a whole affords more insight into the lives of eighteenth-century women than any number of historical surveys and Dr Lonsdale's scholarship has uncovered a rich seam in our poetic inheritance.' Andrew Swarbrick, Oxford Times'Lonsdale refrains from evaluative commentary, and uses his introduction instead to offer a highly informative and lucid account of the historical background to the poems. This, combined with his admirable biographical headnotes, and the additionally instructive endnotes, provides a substantial context in which to read the poems. That so much research and scholarship is presented so modestly is a further tribute to Lonsdale's achievement. He has here produced another major anthology.' Paul Clayton, Hertford College, Oxford, Notes and Queries,Vol.235, No.4, December 1990'This year I discovered Roger Lonsdale's collection ... which I read with fascination and increasing joy' Times Educational Supplement (1992)

Review

"A brilliant and original anthology."--Julia Briggs, The Times (London)

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