Description: The first collection to examine the gendered nature of women's letter-writing in England and Ireland from the late-Elizabethan period through to the Restoration, this book reorients the study of women's letters in the contexts of early modern culture. The volume builds upon recent approaches to the letter, both rhetorical and material, that have the power to transform the ways in which scholars understand, study and situate early modern women's letter-writing.
Review Quotes:
"Women and Epistolary Agency is a welcome contribution to the flourishing literature on early modern letter-writing. It sheds new light on the genderd dimensions of correspondence, and presents some novel paths for further exploration. The collection will be valuable reading for any scholar working on early modern women or letter-writing: scholars who will, no doubt, observe the continuing development of WEMLO project with keen interest."
- Stephanie Thomson, University of Adelaide
"Overall, this edited collection offers an excellent range of articles from different disciplines that focus on women from a variety of geographical, social, religious and professional backgrounds."
- Helen Newsome, University of Sheffield, Journal of Historical Pragmatics