This timely volume represents one of the first comprehensive, student-oriented guides to the under-published field of early modern women's writing.

* Brings together more than twenty leading international scholars to provide the definitive survey volume to the field of early modern women's writing

* Examines individual texts, including works by Mary Sidney, Margaret Cavendish and Aphra Behn

* Explores the historical context and generic diversity of early modern women's writing, as well as the theoretical issues that underpin its study

* Provides a clear sense of the full extent of women's contributions to early modern literary culture