Anthologies

First Feminists: British Women Writers

1578 - 1799

Edited and with an Introduction by Moira Ferguson

Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1985

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

MARGARET TYLER fl. 1578

from Translation by Tyler of The First Part of the Mirrour of Princely Deedes and Knyghthood: Dedication and the Epistle to the Reader, 1578

JANE ANGER, fl. 1589

Jane Anger her Protection for Women, 1589

ESTER SOWERNAM, fl. 1617

from Ester Hath Hang'd Haman: Address; From Chapter 7, 1617

JOANE SHARP, fl. 1617

"A Defence of Women": Poem concluding Ester Sowernam's Ester Hath Hang'd Haman, 1617

MARGARET LUCAS CAVENDISH, DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE, 1623-1673

from Philosophical and Physical Opinions: Preface "To the Two Most Famous Universities of England," 1655

from The Convent of Pleasure, 1668

KATHERINE FOWLER PHILIPS, 1631-1664

from Poems by the Most Deservedly Admired Mrs. Katherine Philips, The Matchless Orinda . . . , 1667

MARGARET ASKEW FELL FOX, 1614-1702

from Womens Speaking Justified, . . . , 1667

BATHSUA PELL MAKIN, 1608?-1675?

from An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen, . . . , 1673

APHRA BEHN, 1640-1689

from The Dutch Lover: Preface, 1673

from Sir Patient Fancy: Epilogue, 1678

from Lycidus; or, The Lover in Fashion, 1688

from Translation by Behn of La Pluralite des Deux Mondes (The Theory or System of Several New Inhabited Worlds): "The Author's Preface," 1700

SARAH FYGE FIELD EGERTON, 1669/72-1722/23

from The Female Advocate, 1686

from Poems on Several Occasions, 1703

JANE BARKER, fl. 1688 and 1723

from Poetical Recreations . . . , 1688

from A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies, . . . , 1723

MARY ASTELL, 1666-1731

from A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, . . . , Parts 1 and 2, 1694, 1697

from Some Reflections Upon Marriage . . . , 1700

from The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Worley Montagu, Vol. 1:Mary Astell's Preface to the Embassy Letters

JUDITH DRAKE, fl. 1696

from An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex, 1696

MARY LEE, LADY CHUDLEIGH, 1656-1710

The Ladies Defence, Including Prefatory Material, 1701

from Poems on Several Occasions, 1703

ELIZABETH ELSTOB, 1683-1756

from An English-Saxon Homily, . . . : Preface, 1709

ANNE KINGSMILL FINCH, COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA, 1661-1720

from Miscellany Poems, on Several Occasions, 1713

from The Poems of Anne, Countess of Winchilsea, 1903

MARY COLLIER, 1689/90-after 1759

The Woman's Labour, 1739

from Poems, on Several Occasions, Including "Some Remarks of the Author's Life Drawn by Herself," 1762

SOPHIA, fl. 1739-1741

from Woman, Not Inferior to Man, . . . , 1739

from Woman's Superior Excellence Over Man, . . . , 1740

CHARLOTTE CIBBER CHARKE, ?-1760

from A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Charlotte Charke, Including "The Author To Herself," 1755

SARAH ROBINSON SCOTT, 1723-1795

from A Description of Milleniun Hall . . . , 1762

ELIZABETH CARTER, 1717-1806

from A Series of Letters Between Mrs. Elizabeth Carter and Miss Catherine Talbot, Vols. 1 and 2, 1809

MARY SCOTT (TAYLOR), 1752?-1793

from The Female Advocate, 1774

ELEANOR BUTLER, 1737-1829

from The Hamwood Papers of the Ladies of Llangollen . . . , 1785-1821

ANN CROMARTIE YEARSLEY, 1756-1806

from Poems on Various Subjects: "Autobiographical Narrative," 1787

A Poem on the Inhumanity of the Slave-Trade, 1788

CATHERINE SAWBRIDGE MACAULAY GRAHAM, 1731-1791

from Letters on Education, 1790

MARY HAYS, 1759/60-1843

from Monthly Magazine: July 2, 1796; March 2, 1797

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, 1759-1797

from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792

from The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria, 1798

MARY ANNE RADCLIFFE, 1746?-after 1810

from The Female Advocate, 1799

Supplementary Readings: Works Not Excerpted


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