Pennell, Sara M. ORCID: 0000-0002-2594-4601 (2023) Gender, commerce and the Restoration book trade: mapping the bookscape of Hannah Wolley’s The Ladies Directory (1661). Book History. ISSN 1098-7371 (Print), 1529-1499 (Online) (In Press)

Preview

PDF (AAM) 44770_PENNELL_Gender_commerce_and_the_Restoration_book_trade_Mapping_the_bookscape_of_Hannah_Wolley.pdf - Accepted Version Download (744kB) | Preview

Abstract

By exploring the lost first edition, and rare second edition of Hannah Wolley's The Ladies Directory (1661/1662), the routes into writing, publishing and disseminating non-fiction 'how-to' books in seventeenth-century London are mapped. The life and works of Hannah Wolley (c.1622/3-before 1675) have been almost wholly neglected by literary scholars interested in 'women's writing' as 'extra-literary', but this article argues for the significance of evaluating such 'domestic works' as significant and innovative contributions in early modern publishing; and for Wolley's pre-eminence as a self-declared 'authress' in the decades before Aphra Behn emerged, and as a non-elite woman writer, in contrast to the likes of Margaret Cavendish. Publication was also only one prong to Wolley's commercial endeavours, and this paper argues for her significance as a working woman and indeed entrepreneur, seeking to monetise her domestic knowledge in early modern London.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The article is due to be published in either volume 24:1 or 24:2 of Book History, in 2024.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Hannah Wolley; Book history; cookery writing; print trade; gender history; seventeenth-century London; women's writing
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2023 11:29
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/44770

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads