Early Modern Women and Transnational Communities of Letters

Derived from a workshop and two conference sessions, the 11 essays of this volume offer a remarkably rich account of the life of letters of women in early modern Europe as one that was driven by keen awareness of and correspondence with their colleagues in other countries. Treated as a phenomenon of cultural geography, the essays detail the intricate literary communication practiced by women who saw their works commercially printed, knew classical languages, and were actively involved, variously, in humanist, family, and religious pursuits. Esther Inglis, Catherine des Roches, Giulia Gonzaga, and Anne Vaughan Lock are among the women whose literary lives are described. The volume concludes with a lengthy bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The contributors teach English, Italian, French, and history in the US, Europe, and Australia. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Julie Campbell (English, Eastern Illinois University) is the editor and translator of Isabella Andreini's La Mirtilla (2002) and the author of Literary Circles and Gender in Early Modern Europe (2006). Her research focuses on Renaissance and seventeenth-century literature with an emphasis on Continental and English women writers. Anne Larsen (French, Hope College) has published articles and book chapters on French Renaissance and seventeenth-century women writers and is the editor and translator of From Mother and Daughter: Poems, Dialogues, and Letters of the Dames des Roches (2006). She is currently investigating the writings of Anna Maria van Schurman on women's education.