Doing Literary Business: American Women Writers in the Nineteenth Century

by Susan Coultrap-McQuin

Overview

Coultrap-McQuin investigates the reasons for women's unprecedented literary professionalism in the nineteenth century, highlighting the experiences of E.D.E.N. Southworth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Gail Hamilton, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward. She examines the cultural milieu of women writers, the ideals and practices of the literary marketplace, and the characteristics of women's literary activities that brought them success.

Originally published in 1990.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition — UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807842843
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/10/1990
Series:	Gender and American Culture
Edition description:	1
Pages:	269
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An engaging, useful book and an important project in cultural history. Susan Coultrap-McQuin shows how the nineteenth-century American explosion of published women writers (here, white, middle-class women published by mainstream houses) was both facilitated and constrained by the contemporary publishing industry and by prevailing Victorian ideas about authorship.—American Studies International



A densely textured account of the entry into the literary marketplace of five strategically chosen women authors. It puts their work in a context that has so far been missing from the existing criticism, and does so in a way that is both instructive and satisfying. Everyone working in the field of nineteenth-century American women's writing should be grateful to Susan Coultrap-McQuin for the effort she has put into unearthing the information she has so intelligently gathered here.—Jane Tompkins, Duke University

Editorial Reviews

"An engaging, useful book and an important project in cultural history. Susan Coultrap-McQuin shows how the nineteenth-century American explosion of published women writers (here, white, middle-class women published by mainstream houses) was both facilitated and constrained by the contemporary publishing industry and by prevailing Victorian ideas about authorship."—American Studies International

"A densely textured account of the entry into the literary marketplace of five strategically chosen women authors. It puts their work in a context that has so far been missing from the existing criticism, and does so in a way that is both instructive and satisfying. Everyone working in the field of nineteenth-century American women's writing should be grateful to Susan Coultrap-McQuin for the effort she has put into unearthing the information she has so intelligently gathered here."—Jane Tompkins, Duke University

From the Publisher

Examines the cultural milieu in 19th century women writers, the ideals and practices of the literary marketplace, and the characteristics of women's literary professionalism that brought them success. Highlights the experiences of five writers: E.D.E.N. Southworth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Abigail Dodge, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Ward). Paper edition (unseen), $10.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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