The History of British Women's Writing, 1830-1880

371 Pages·2018·3.609 MB·English

by  Lucy Hartley

The History of British Women’s Writing, 1830–1880
The History of British Women’s Writing
General Editors: Jennie Batchelor and Cora Kaplan
Advisory Board: Isobel Armstrong, Rachel Bowlby, Helen Carr, Carolyn Dinshaw,
Margaret Ezell, Margaret Ferguson, Isobel Grundy, and Felicity Nussbaum
The History of British Women’s Writing is an innovative and ambitious monograph
series that seeks both to synthesise the work of several generations of feminist schol-
ars, and to advance new directions for the study of women’s writing. Volume edi-
tors and contributors are leading scholars whose work collectively reflects the global
excellence in this expanding field of study. It is envisaged that this series will be a
key resource for specialist and non-specialist scholars and students alike.
Titles include:
Liz Herbert McAvoy and Diane Watt (editors)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 700–1500
Volume One
Caroline Bicks and Jennifer Summit (editors)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1500–1610
Volume Two
Mihoko Suzuki (editor)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1610–1690
Volume Three
Ros Ballaster (editor)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1690–1750
Volume Four
Jacqueline M. Labbe (editor)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1750–1830
Volume Five
Holly Laird (editor)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1880–1920
Volume Seven
Mary Joannou (editor)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1920–1945
Volume Eight
Claire Hanson and Susan Watkins (editors)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1945–1975
Volume Nine
Mary Eagleton and Emma Parker (editors)
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1880–1920
Volume Ten
History of British Women’s Writing
Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-230-20079-1 hardback
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing
order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address
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Also by Lucy Hartley
PHYSIOGNOMY AND THE MEANING OF EXPRESSION IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY
CULTURE (2001/2006)
DEMOCRATISING BEAUTY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: Art and the Politics of
Public Life (2017)
The History of British
Women’s Writing, 1830–1880
Volume Six
Edited by
Lucy Hartley
Lucy Hartley
History of British Women’s Writing
ISBN 978-1-137-58464-9 ISBN 978-1-137-58465-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978–1–137–58465–6
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Limited 2018
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Cover credit: Victorian women writing at a desk, from the story Madame Leroux,
by Frances Eleanor Trollope, The Graphic, 1890.
Getty Images
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered
company Springer Nature Limited.
The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom
In memory of my grandmothers,
Ivy Hartley and Margaret Alicia Kealy
Contents
List of Figures xi
Series Editors’ Preface xii
Acknowledgements xiii
Notes on Contributors xiv
Chronology by Pamela Wolpert xviii
Introduction: The ‘Business’ of Writing Women 1
Lucy Hartley
Part I Divisions of Writing
1 The Feminisation of Literary Culture 23
Joanne Shattock
2 Gender, Authorship, and the Periodical Press 39
Alexis Easley
3 The Professional Woman Writer 56
Linda K. Hughes
Part II Reading Places
4 Mapping the Nation: Scotland and Britain 73
Suzanne Gilbert
5 Representing Ireland 91
Margaret Kelleher
6 Runaway Discourse: Women Write Slavery, Race, and Empire 107
Cora Kaplan
7 Women Writers and the Provincial Novel 125
Josephine McDonagh
8 Library Lives of Women 143
Susan David Bernstein
Part III Writing Genres
9 Travel Writing 163
Ella Dzelzainis
10 Religious Genres 178
Julie Melnyk
ix
x Contents
11 Women Playwrights and the London Stage 196
Sharon Aronofsky Weltman
12 Life Writing 212
Valerie Sanders
13 Scientific and Medical Genres 229
Claire Brock
Part IV Reading Women Writing Modernity
14 Creativity 247
Alison Chapman
15 Sensation, Art, and Capital 264
Lucy Hartley
16 Writing across the Class Divide 282
Florence S. Boos
17 Friendship and Intimacy 303
Jill Rappoport
18 Sympathy 320
Carolyn Burdett
Select Critical Bibliography 336
Index 344
List of Figures
2.1 Ngram for ‘Authoress’, 1800–1900. Google Ngram Viewer:
https://books.google.com/ngrams 42
2.2 Matt Morgan, ‘“The Girl of the Period!” Or, Painted by a
Prurient Prude’, Tomahawk, 2 (4 April 1868), p. 139 50
7.1 R. Westall, engraved by C. Heath, ‘The Parting Charge’,
Forget Me Not (London: R. Ackerman, 1825), p. 55.
Reproduced by kind permission of the London Library 132
7.2 Henry Corbould, engraved by George Corbould, ‘Sacontala’,
Forget Me Not (London: R. Ackerman, 1825), p. 198.
Reproduced by kind permission of Senate House Library,
University of London 133
15.1 William Powell Frith, Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1865),
oil on canvas, 91.4 x 71.8 cm, NPG 4478. © National
Portrait Gallery, London 278
xi