Fall 2008 - The Johns Hopkins University Press

Women Writers and Old Agein Great Britain, 1750-1850Devoney LooserThis groundbreaking studyexplores the later lives andlate-life writings of morethan two dozen British womenauthors active during thelong eighteenth century.Drawing on biographical materials,literary texts, and receptionhistories, DevoneyLooser finds that far fromfading into moribund old age,female literary greats such asAnna Letitia Barbauld, FrancesBurney, Maria Edgeworth,Catharine Macaulay, Hester Lynch Piozzi, and Jane Portertoiled for decades after they achieved acclaim.Though these remarkable women wrote and published wellinto old age, Looser sees in their late careers the necessityof choosing among several different paths. These includedreceding into the background as authors of “classics,” adaptingto grandmotherly standards of behavior, attempting toreshape masculinized conceptions of aged wisdom, or tryingto create entirely new categories for older women writers. Inassessing how these writers affected and were affected by theculture in which they lived, and in examining their variedreactions to the prospect of aging, Looser constructs carefulportraits of each of her subjects and explains why manyturned toward retrospection in their later works.In illuminating the powerful and often poorly recognizedlegacy of the British women writers who spurred a marketplacerevolution in their earlier years only to find unanticipatedbarriers to acceptance in later life, Looser opensup new scholarly territory in the burgeoning field of feministage studies.Devoney lOOSER is an associate professor of English at theUniversity of Missouri and the author of British WomenWriters and the Writing of History, 1670–1820, also publishedby Johns Hopkins.British Women Poets and theRomantic Writing CommunityStephen C. BehrendtThis compelling study recovers the lost lives and poemsof British women poets of the Romantic era. Stephen C.Behrendt reveals the range and diversity of their writings,offering new perspectives on the work of dozens of womenwhose poetry has long been ignored or marginalized intraditional literary history.British Romanticism was once thought of as a culturalmovement defined by a small group of male poets. Thisbook grants women poets their proper place in the literarytradition of the time. Behrendt first approaches the subjectthematically, exploring the ways in which the poems addressedboth public concerns and private experiences. Henext examines the use of particular genres, including thesonnet and various other long and short forms. In the concludingchapters, Behrendt explores the impact of nationalidentity, providing the first extensive study of Romantic-erapoetry by women from Scotland and Ireland.In recovering the lives and work of these women, Behrendtreveals their active participation within the rich culturalcommunity of writers and readers throughout the BritishIsles. This study will be a key resource for scholars, teachers,and students in British literary studies, women’s studies,and cultural history.“This is an essential contribution to our discipline by one of its majorscholars. Most of what it contains will be absolutely new to its readers,providing a significant and lasting addition to the ongoing recoveryof the literature of the British Romantic age.”—Stuart Curran, University of PennsylvaniaStephen C. BehrendT is the George Holmes DistinguishedProfessor of English at the University of Nebraska and coeditorof Romanticism and Women Poets: Opening the Doorsof Reception and Approaches to Teaching British Women Poets ofthe Romantic Period.September 288 pages 6 x 9 2 halftones978-0-8018-8705-5 0-8018-8705-4 $55.00(s) / £29.00 hcBritish LiteratureJanuary 416 pages 6 x 9978-0-8018-9054-3 0-8018-9054-3 $65.00(s) / £34.00 hcBritish LiteratureTHE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS www.press.jhu.edu 46