Complete Works of Jane Barker

Jane Barker (1652 – 1732) was an English poet and novelist of the early 18th century. The Amours of Bosvil and Galesia (1713) was considered her most successful work. A staunch Jacobite, she followed King James II of England into exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France shortly after James’ defeat in the Glorious Revolution (1688). During her exile, she wrote a group of political poems, "A Collection of Poems Referring to the Times" (1701), which conveyed her anxiety towards the political future of England. She later became a novelist and wrote Exilius; or, The Banished Roman (1715), A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies (1723), and The Lining of the Patch Work Screen (1726). Barker was never married and her works show a strong lack of interest in marriage. Instead, she sought to challenge the status quo of female subordination.

Jane Barker was born in May 1652, in the village of Blatherwick, Northamptonshire in England. She was the only daughter, and the second of three surviving children, of Thomas and Anne Barker. Thomas Barker was one of the Secretaries of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.