First Feminists British Women Writers, 15781799 [Paperback]

An invaluable resource to scholars interested in feminist thought.... Ruth Perry

Anyone interested in womens history or feminist thought must read this book. Lillian Faderman

Moira Ferguson has selected wisely from well-known and little-known figures and from fiction, polemic and poetry to illustrate the long and diverse history of feminist reflection up to and including Mary Wollstonecraft.... Good reading for scholars and a fine book for classroom use. Natalie Zemon Davis

The selections resonate with exceptional force. Fides et Historia

... impressive new product, fit for classroom and study, student and scholar. The Scriblerian

... excellent anthology... without a doubt at all an immensely important addition to the growing library of Feminist Studies. Anglo-American Studies

... this anthology is a valuable guide. The Years Work in English Studies

For this anthology tracing the origins of feminist thought in Britain, the editor chose 28 important writers from Margaret Tyler (1578) to Mary Anne Radcliffe (1799).

Preface
Introduction

Margaret Tyler fl. 1578
From translation by Tyler of The First Part of the Mirrour of Princely Deeds and Knyghthood: Dedication and the Epistle to the Reader,

Jane Anger, fl. 1589
Jane Anger her Protection for Women

Ester Sowernam, fl. 1617
From Ester Hath Hangd Haman: Address; From Chapter 7

Joane Sharp, fl. 1617
A Defence of Women: Poem concluding Ester Sowernams Ester Hath Hangd Haman

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

Mary Anne RadclilƒÔ