Early Modern Englishwoman: A Facsimile Library of Essential Works for the Study of Early Modern Women Series III, Part One – serie

The texts reproduced in facsimile in the three volumes of 'Legal Treatises' reconstruct the legal status of the early modern Englishwoman. To facilitate a reading of the treatises by broadly defining many of the laws discussed in great detail in the treatises, a general introduction to the laws of the period provides concise overviews of the structure of the English legal system; the legal education of practitioners of the law; the kinds of legal literature produced in the period; and the legal position of early modern Englishwomen. A bibliography of important secondary scholarship devoted to the early modern Englishwoman's legal position assists the reader in obtaining more specialized knowledge. In addition to the general introduction, a separate introduction to each of the reproduced works is provided, including information about each work's publication and authorship, intended audience, content and reception. In order to provide this framework for the years 1600-1750, this first volume of 'Legal Treatises' reproduces The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights (1632), the first known treatise devoted to the legal rights of women. 'The Womans Lawyer,' as the treatise's running headline and spine title read, was published anonymously in 1632; the title page fails to identify the original author of the work, and its authorship remains in question today. At over 400 pages, the text represents a massive effort of consolidation, organizing the disparate and hitherto uncompiled aspects of the common law applicable to women into a logical framework. It is unusual among early modern legal treatises in its stated goal of providing a 'popular kind of instruction' to its readers.

The texts reproduced in facsimile in the three volumes of 'Legal Treatises' reconstruct the legal status of the early modern Englishwoman. To facilitate a reading of the treatises by broadly defining many of the laws discussed in great detail in the treatises, a general introduction to the laws of the period provides concise overviews of the structure of the English legal system; the legal education of practitioners of the law; the kinds of legal literature produced in the period; and the legal position of early modern Englishwomen. A bibliography of important secondary scholarship devoted to the early modern Englishwoman's legal position assists the reader in obtaining more specialized knowledge. In addition to the general introduction, a separate introduction to each of the reproduced works is provided, including information about each work's publication and authorship, intended audience, content and reception. In order to provide this framework for the years 1600-1750, this first volume of 'Legal Treatises' reproduces The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights (1632), the first known treatise devoted to the legal rights of women. 'The Womans Lawyer,' as the treatise's running headline and spine title read, was published anonymously in 1632; the title page fails to identify the original author of the work, and its authorship remains in question today. At over 400 pages, the text represents a massive effort of consolidation, organizing the disparate and hitherto uncompiled aspects of the common law applicable to women into a logical framework. It is unusual among early modern legal treatises in its stated goal of providing a 'popular kind of instruction' to its readers.

As its compiler Thomas Bentley writes, The Monument of Matrones (1582) is a 'domesticall librarie plentifullie stored and replenished'. This 1500-page book is one of a long line of books of secular prayer reaching from the Middle Ages through the sixteenth-century English compilations of prayer and meditations that grew out of the English Reformation. It is unique because it is addressed specifically to women and contains prayers and meditations written by women as well as for them. The Monument helped define women's roles in the Anglican Church and is intertwined with the whole nature of the Protestant Reformation and the place of women in it. The work is divided into seven numbered parts which Bentley titles 'Lamps'. This structural theme is based on a fusion of the imagery of the wise and foolish virgins and their lamps in Matthew 25:1-13 with the vision of the seven lampstands (or seven-branched candlestick) in Rev.1:20-2:1. In this facsimile edition Volume 1 contains Lamps 1-3, Volume 2 contains Lamp 4, and Volume 3 contains Lamps 5-7. The Introductory Note that appears in each of the three volumes provides an overview of the contents of The Monument which will help the reader to appreciate the riches of this immense book. It is also significant in identifying, for the first time, the compiler Thomas Bentley as the churchwarden of St Andrew Holborn, City of London. The copy reproduced in this edition is the British Library copy; where necessary, pages from The Huntington Library copy have been substituted.

As its compiler Thomas Bentley writes, The Monument of Matrones (1582) is a 'domesticall librarie plentifullie stored and replenished'. This 1500-page book is one of a long line of books of secular prayer reaching from the Middle Ages through the sixteenth-century English compilations of prayer and meditations that grew out of the English Reformation. It is unique because it is addressed specifically to women and contains prayers and meditations written by women as well as for them. The Monument helped define women's roles in the Anglican Church and is intertwined with the whole nature of the Protestant Reformation and the place of women in it. The work is divided into seven numbered parts which Bentley titles 'Lamps'. This structural theme is based on a fusion of the imagery of the wise and foolish virgins and their lamps in Matthew 25:1-13 with the vision of the seven lampstands (or seven-branched candlestick) in Rev.1:20-2:1. In this facsimile edition Volume 1 contains Lamps 1-3, Volume 2 contains Lamp 4, and Volume 3 contains Lamps 5-7. The Introductory Note that appears in each of the three volumes provides an overview of the contents of The Monument which will help the reader to appreciate the riches of this immense book. It is also significant in identifying, for the first time, the compiler Thomas Bentley as the churchwarden of St Andrew Holborn, City of London. The copy reproduced in this edition is the British Library copy; where necessary, pages from The Huntington Library copy have been substituted.

As its compiler Thomas Bentley writes, The Monument of Matrones (1582) is a 'domesticall librarie plentifullie stored and replenished'. This 1500-page book is one of a long line of books of secular prayer reaching from the Middle Ages through the sixteenth-century English compilations of prayer and meditations that grew out of the English Reformation. It is unique because it is addressed specifically to women and contains prayers and meditations written by women as well as for them. The Monument helped define women's roles in the Anglican Church and is intertwined with the whole nature of the Protestant Reformation and the place of women in it. The work is divided into seven numbered parts which Bentley titles 'Lamps'. This structural theme is based on a fusion of the imagery of the wise and foolish virgins and their lamps in Matthew 25:1-13 with the vision of the seven lampstands (or seven-branched candlestick) in Rev.1:20-2:1. In this facsimile edition Volume 1 contains Lamps 1-3, Volume 2 contains Lamp 4, and Volume 3 contains Lamps 5-7. The Introductory Note that appears in each of the three volumes provides an overview of the contents of The Monument which will help the reader to appreciate the riches of this immense book. It is also significant in identifying, for the first time, the compiler Thomas Bentley as the churchwarden of St Andrew Holborn, City of London. The copy reproduced in this edition is the British Library copy; where necessary, pages from The Huntington Library copy have been substituted.

The texts reproduced in facsimile in the three volumes of 'Legal Treatises' reconstruct the legal status of the early modern Englishwoman. To facilitate a reading of the treatises by broadly defining many of the laws discussed in great detail in the treatises, a general introduction to the laws of the period provides concise overviews of the structure of the English legal system; the legal education of practitioners of the law; the kinds of legal literature produced in the period; and the legal position of early modern Englishwomen. A bibliography of important secondary scholarship devoted to the early modern Englishwoman's legal position assists the reader in obtaining more specialized knowledge. In addition to the general introduction, a separate introduction to each of the reproduced works is provided, including information about each work's publication and authorship, intended audience, content and reception. In order to provide this framework for the years 1600-1750, this first volume of 'Legal Treatises' reproduces The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights (1632), the first known treatise devoted to the legal rights of women. 'The Womans Lawyer,' as the treatise's running headline and spine title read, was published anonymously in 1632; the title page fails to identify the original author of the work, and its authorship remains in question today. At over 400 pages, the text represents a massive effort of consolidation, organizing the disparate and hitherto uncompiled aspects of the common law applicable to women into a logical framework. It is unusual among early modern legal treatises in its stated goal of providing a 'popular kind of instruction' to its readers.

As voyeuristic and prurient as today's tabloid newspapers, early modern crime pamphlets and broadside ballads about women murderers tell of furtive love affairs and domestic poisonings, of battered wives who kill their abusive husbands, and of troubled mothers who murder their children. On first acquaintance, many pamphlets leave an impression of shallow sensationalism yoked to idealised repentance, and for that reason modern critics and historians have often discounted their importance as culturally significant artifacts. This volume presents a selection of over forty texts and is intended to encourage a reconsideration of these views. In his Introductory Note to the volume, Randall Martin discusses the narrative content and social commentary of these ballads, pamphlets and trial reports, and the contribution that they make to the discursive construction of the early modern female murderer through their representational strategies and evolving legal and gender contexts.