Overview

Focusing on the international circulation of culture and ideas by women in the early modern period through the long eighteenth century, this book amplifies their presence in history, finding new ways to explore their transnational encounters and exchanges. Providing a rich introduction to the topic of women’s transnational interactions, the essays in this book build a diverse picture of female engagement with the wider world and consider how women interpreted, influenced, or transferred culture and ideas around the globe. Examining figures such as Aphra Behn, Charlotte Bonaparte and Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, this book looks at novels, memoirs, poetry, translations, travel writing and plays, as well as considering the ways in which women’s public lives have been ‘written’ in music, portraits and printed images, and their roles in the international exchange of art and material culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UK) ,  Louise Duckling (Independent Scholar)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:  

9781350512283

ISBN 10:   1350512281
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   19 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  

Table of Contents

Introduction, Louise Duckling and Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland Prologue. Power POSTCARD 1: Queen Mary I and La Peregrina, Valerie Schutte, Independent Scholar 1. Women Rulers Transmitting Unexpected Gender Notions Far Beyond their Realms: Ruth Dawson, University of Hawaii/Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London, UK PART I: CULTURE POSTCARD 2: The Female Letter and Performing Identity: Rachel Bynoth (Smith), Bath Spa University, UK 2. Imagining England: Recovering Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy’s Memoirs of the Court of England (1707): Daisy Winter, Northumbria University, UK 3. The Racial Politics of the Chilean Family in Maria Graham’s Journal of a Residence in Chile (1824): Valentina Aparicio, Queen Mary University of London, UK 4. ‘Today, two vent’rous females spread the sail’: The Presence of Female Travellers in the Works of Mariana Starke, Eva Lippold, University of Reading, UK PART II: KNOWLEDGE POSTCARD 3: ‘A new world of ideas’: Knowledge Exchange in Helen Maria Williams’s Translation of Alexander von Humboldt’s Personal Narrative (1814–29): Louise Duckling, Independent Scholar 5. Madeleine de Scudéry, Aphra Behn and Translation: Amelia Mills, Loughborough University, UK 6. Transnational Philosophies of the Universe in Margaret Cavendish’s Poems and Fancies (1653): Masuda Qureshi, Birkbeck, University of London, UK 7. Art, Botany, and Gender in Colonial Cuba: Elisa Garrido, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain PART III: ART POSTCARD 4: Collecting Travel Memories: Arlene Leis, Independent Scholar 8. Aletheia Talbot and The Art of Italy: Breeze Barrington, Queen Mary University of London, UK 9. Back through Time and Beyond Britain: Miriam al Jamil, Birkbeck, University of London, UK PART IV: MUSIC POSTCARD 5: Mrs Macglashan of Jamaica: Andrew Bull, Independent Scholar 10. Elizabeth Wynne’s Musical Exchanges: Penelope Cave, Independent Scholar 11. Scots in Australia, Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UK Epilogue: Louise Duckling and Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland POSTCARD 6: Felicia Hemans, the Monument of Zalongo, and the ‘dance’ of a moment in history, Trijit Acharyya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

Reviews

A fascinating collection that ranges across time and space to establish British women’s transnational exchanges through travel, artistic production, and various forms of writing. It also explores connections with European women, as well as with women in the Americas and as far as Australia. The meticulous archival research and deft critical analysis informing each of the chapters offers a generative basis for further studies of early modern women and transnational cultural exchange. * Bernadette Andrea, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. *

Author Information

Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland is a Lecturer in Historical Musicology at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, UK. Louise Duckling is an independent scholar based in the UK.

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