Women Writers Project
Encyclopedia
The Women Writers Project is an initiative based at Brown University
, with the aim of making texts by pre-Victorian
women writers more accessible. The eventual goal of the project is to make available all English language
works written or co-authored by women up to 1850. At present the focus is on works that are otherwise difficult to obtain.
The project began in 1986 and initially published texts in traditional print form. In the mid-1990s the project engaged in research concerning systems for encoding texts in electronic form, based on the standards of the Text Encoding Initiative
. "Women Writers Online", the project's electronic archive
of texts, was launched in 1999. Access to Women Writers Online is available to paid subscribers through a web-based interface.
As of August 2005 Women Writers Online contains over 230 texts dating from 1526 to 1850 by over 110 authors, including Anna Laetitia Barbauld
, Aphra Behn
, Margaret Cavendish
, Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret Fell
, Felicia Hemans
, Catherine Parr
, and Mary Sidney
.
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, with the aim of making texts by pre-Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
women writers more accessible. The eventual goal of the project is to make available all English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
works written or co-authored by women up to 1850. At present the focus is on works that are otherwise difficult to obtain.
The project began in 1986 and initially published texts in traditional print form. In the mid-1990s the project engaged in research concerning systems for encoding texts in electronic form, based on the standards of the Text Encoding Initiative
Text Encoding Initiative
The Text Encoding Initiative is a text-centric community of practice in the academic field of digital humanities. The community runs a mailing list, meetings and conference series, and maintains a technical standard, a wiki and a toolset....
. "Women Writers Online", the project's electronic archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
of texts, was launched in 1999. Access to Women Writers Online is available to paid subscribers through a web-based interface.
As of August 2005 Women Writers Online contains over 230 texts dating from 1526 to 1850 by over 110 authors, including Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Anna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare...
, Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
, Margaret Cavendish
Margaret Cavendish
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was an English aristocrat, a prolific writer, and a scientist. Born Margaret Lucas, she was the youngest sister of prominent royalists Sir John Lucas and Sir Charles Lucas...
, Queen Elizabeth I, Margaret Fell
Margaret Fell
Margaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...
, Felicia Hemans
Felicia Hemans
-Ancestry:Felicia Heman's paternal grandfather was George Browne of Passage, co. Cork, Ireland; her maternal grandparents were Elizabeth Haydock Wagner of Lancashire and Benedict Paul Wagner , wine importer at 9 Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool. Family legend gave the Wagners a Venetian origin;...
, Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
, and Mary Sidney
Mary Sidney
Mary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
.
External links
- Women Writers Project (homepage)
- List of texts in Women Writers Online
- List of texts available in printed form (some of which are not available online)