"Early Modern Women Poets represents a complete reexamination of the field, based on extensive archival research in manuscripts and early modern printed books. While it contains lavish selections from important poets such as Aphra Behn, Katherine Philips, and Aemilia Lanyer, almost half of the material included is previously unpublished and uncollected. It aims to introduce the reader to a conspectus of the verse written by women from c.1520 to 1700, at all social levels from the verse of court elite to working-class women's aphorisms, libels, and charms. Each woman's work is accompanied by a headnote which combines biographic information with some guidance as to the context, intended audience, and genre of her work."--BOOK JACKET.