Women's Reading in Britain, 1750-1835: A Dangerous Recreation

Hardback

Main Details

Title Women's Reading in Britain, 1750-1835: A Dangerous Recreation
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Jacqueline Pearson
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:312
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreLiterary studies - c 1500 to c 1800
Library and information sciences
ISBN/Barcode 9780521584395
ClassificationsDewey:828.608099287
Audience
Professional & Vocational

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 27 May 1999
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The growth of female reading audiences from the mid-eighteenth century to the early Victorian era represents both a vital episode in women's history and a highly significant factor in shaping the literary production of the period. This book offers for the first time a broad overview and detailed analysis of this growing readership, its representation in literature, and the extent of its influence. It examines both historical women readers, including Laetitia Pilkington, Elizabeth Carter, Frances Burney and Jane Austen, and a wide range of texts in which the figure of the woman reader is important, from Gothic (and other) novels to conduct books and educational works, letters, journals and memoirs, political and economic works, and texts on history and science. Jacqueline Pearson's study offers illuminating insights which help to make sense of the ambivalent and contradictory attitudes of the age to the key figure of the woman reader.

Reviews

'... manages to be both scholarly and readable. the breadth of research is impressive, and covers a wide range of women readers, including both the well known and the less familiar ... this will be a valuable text for anyone studying any aspect of gender and writing or reading during this important era.' Harriet Devine, Review of English Studies