The History of British Women’s Writing, 1830–1880 The History of British Women’s Writing General Editors: Jennie Batchelor and Cora Kaplan Advisory Board: Isobel Armstrong, Rachel Bowlby, Helen Carr, Carolyn Dinshaw, Margaret Ezell, Margaret Ferguson, Isobel Grundy, and Felicity Nussbaum The History of British Women’s Writing is an innovative and ambitious monograph series that seeks both to synthesise the work of several generations of feminist schol- ars, and to advance new directions for the study of women’s writing. Volume edi- tors and contributors are leading scholars whose work collectively reflects the global excellence in this expanding field of study. It is envisaged that this series will be a key resource for specialist and non-specialist scholars and students alike. Titles include: Liz Herbert McAvoy and Diane Watt (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 700–1500 Volume One Caroline Bicks and Jennifer Summit (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1500–1610 Volume Two Mihoko Suzuki (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1610–1690 Volume Three Ros Ballaster (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1690–1750 Volume Four Jacqueline M. Labbe (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1750–1830 Volume Five Holly Laird (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1880–1920 Volume Seven Mary Joannou (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1920–1945 Volume Eight Claire Hanson and Susan Watkins (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1945–1975 Volume Nine Mary Eagleton and Emma Parker (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1880–1920 Volume Ten History of British Women’s Writing Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-230-20079-1 hardback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Also by Lucy Hartley PHYSIOGNOMY AND THE MEANING OF EXPRESSION IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CULTURE (2001/2006) DEMOCRATISING BEAUTY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: Art and the Politics of Public Life (2017) The History of British Women’s Writing, 1830–1880 Volume Six Edited by Lucy Hartley Lucy Hartley History of British Women’s Writing ISBN 978-1-137-58464-9 ISBN 978-1-137-58465-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978–1–137–58465–6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2018 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover credit: Victorian women writing at a desk, from the story Madame Leroux, by Frances Eleanor Trollope, The Graphic, 1890. Getty Images Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Limited. The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom In memory of my grandmothers, Ivy Hartley and Margaret Alicia Kealy Contents List of Figures xi Series Editors’ Preface xii Acknowledgements xiii Notes on Contributors xiv Chronology by Pamela Wolpert xviii Introduction: The ‘Business’ of Writing Women 1 Lucy Hartley Part I Divisions of Writing 1 The Feminisation of Literary Culture 23 Joanne Shattock 2 Gender, Authorship, and the Periodical Press 39 Alexis Easley 3 The Professional Woman Writer 56 Linda K. Hughes Part II Reading Places 4 Mapping the Nation: Scotland and Britain 73 Suzanne Gilbert 5 Representing Ireland 91 Margaret Kelleher 6 Runaway Discourse: Women Write Slavery, Race, and Empire 107 Cora Kaplan 7 Women Writers and the Provincial Novel 125 Josephine McDonagh 8 Library Lives of Women 143 Susan David Bernstein Part III Writing Genres 9 Travel Writing 163 Ella Dzelzainis 10 Religious Genres 178 Julie Melnyk ix x Contents 11 Women Playwrights and the London Stage 196 Sharon Aronofsky Weltman 12 Life Writing 212 Valerie Sanders 13 Scientific and Medical Genres 229 Claire Brock Part IV Reading Women Writing Modernity 14 Creativity 247 Alison Chapman 15 Sensation, Art, and Capital 264 Lucy Hartley 16 Writing across the Class Divide 282 Florence S. Boos 17 Friendship and Intimacy 303 Jill Rappoport 18 Sympathy 320 Carolyn Burdett Select Critical Bibliography 336 Index 344 List of Figures 2.1 Ngram for ‘Authoress’, 1800–1900. Google Ngram Viewer: https://books.google.com/ngrams 42 2.2 Matt Morgan, ‘“The Girl of the Period!” Or, Painted by a Prurient Prude’, Tomahawk, 2 (4 April 1868), p. 139 50 7.1 R. Westall, engraved by C. Heath, ‘The Parting Charge’, Forget Me Not (London: R. Ackerman, 1825), p. 55. Reproduced by kind permission of the London Library 132 7.2 Henry Corbould, engraved by George Corbould, ‘Sacontala’, Forget Me Not (London: R. Ackerman, 1825), p. 198. Reproduced by kind permission of Senate House Library, University of London 133 15.1 William Powell Frith, Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1865), oil on canvas, 91.4 x 71.8 cm, NPG 4478. © National Portrait Gallery, London 278 xi Series Editor’s Preface One of the most significant developments in literary studies in the last quarter of a century has been the remarkable growth of scholarship on women’s writing. This was inspired by, and in turn provided inspiration for, a post-war women’s movement, which saw women’s cultural expres- sion as key to their emancipation. The retrieval, republication and reap- praisal of women’s writing, beginning in the mid-1960s have radically affected the literary curriculum in schools and universities. A revised canon now includes many more women writers. Literature courses that focus on what women thought and wrote from antiquity onwards have become popular undergraduate and postgraduate options. These new initiatives have meant that gender – in language, authors, texts, audience, and in the history of print culture more generally – is a central question for literary criticism and literary history. A mass of fascinating research and analysis extending over several decades now stands as testimony to a lively and diverse set of debates, in an area of work that is still expanding. Indeed so rapid has this expansion been that it has become increasingly difficult for students and academics to have a comprehensive view of the wider field of women’s writing outside their own period or specialism. As the research on women has moved from the margins to the confident cen- tre of literary studies it has become rich in essays and monographs dealing with smaller groups of authors, with particular genres, and with defined periods of literary production, reflecting the divisions of intellectual labour and development of expertise that are typical of the discipline of literary studies. Collections of essays that provide overviews within particular peri- ods and genres do exist, but no published series has taken on the mapping of the field even within one language group or national culture. A History of British Women’s Writing is intended as just such a cartographic standard work. Its ambition is to provide, in ten volumes edited by lead- ing experts in the field, and comprised of newly commissioned essays by specialist scholars, a clear and integrated picture of women’s contribution to the world of letters within Great Britain from medieval times to the present. In taking on such a wide-ranging project we were inspired by the founding, in 2003, of Chawton House Library, a UK registered charity with a unique collection of books focusing on women’s writing in English from 1600 to 1830, set in the home and working estate of Jane Austen’s brother. Jennie Batchelor University of Kent Cora Kaplan Queen Mary, University of London xii Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the support of Jennie Batchelor and Cora Kaplan, the General Editors of this series, throughout the production of the vol- ume. The helpfulness, generosity, and patience of Jennie and Cora were much appreciated—and sometimes much needed—and it has been a pleas- ure to work with them. I also wish to acknowledge the incisive feedback from the anonymous external readers, which proved valuable in revis- ing the volume, and the consummate professionalism of Ben Doyle, Eva Hodgkin, and Camille Davies at Palgrave Macmillan. I owe special thanks to two graduate students at the University of Michigan: Pamela Wolpert, for compiling the chronology and the index, and Ani Bezirdzhyan, for pre- paring the select bibliography. I also wish to extend personal thanks to my family—Keith and Winifred, Adam, Rachel, Oliver, and Imogen, Cecilia, Martyn, Matthew, Katie, and Sophie—and to the Department of English at the University of Michigan, especially the wonderful staff who keep every- thing together and keep smiling.