The celebrated Mary Astell : an early English feminist /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Perry, Ruth, 1943-
Imprint:Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c1986.
Description:xiv, 549 p. : ill., ports. ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Series:Women in culture and society
Chicago original paperbacks
Chicago originals.
Subject:Astell, Mary, -- 1666-1731
Astell, Mary, -- 1668-1731.
Feminists -- England -- Biography.
Women's rights -- England -- History -- 18th century.
Feminists.
Women's rights.
England.
History
Biography.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/7241338
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0226660931
0226660958 (pbk.)
Notes:Includes bibliographies and index.
Review by Choice Review

More than a literary biography, this is an exemplary piece of feminist cultural history: Mary Astell (16661731), early feminist, essayist, and pamphleteer, emerges for the first time against the backdrop of her time, a backdrop meticulously researched and thoroughly reconstructed by Perry. Early chapters address the political climate in which Astell came to maturity and discuss in detail both her early works (such as A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest, 1694, her seminal work on women's education) and their reception. Perry pays special attention to Astell's relationship to writers such as Locke and Defoe. Later chapters establish the circle of Astell's friends, and Perry draws full biographical portraits of each. Extensive appendixes deserve notice, as they provide access to a wealth of relevant information, including the book collections of the Countess of Coventry and an inventory of Peter Astell's worldly goods. In addition, the text of Astell's letters and poems, as well as a bibliographical checklist of her works, make this a sourcebook on Astell. Lavishly illustrated, this definitive biography entirely supersedes the only other biography of Astell, written by Florence Smith in 1916. Recommended for college, community college, and university libraries.-B. Kowaleski-Wallace, Tufts University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review