The Works of Anne Finch: A Critical Edition and Digital Archive

FAIN: RQ-50514-10

University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Greensboro, NC 27412-5068)
Jennifer Marie Keith (Project Director: November 2009 to November 2014)

Production of the first scholarly edition and open-access digital archive of the works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720), to be published by Cambridge University Press. (36 months)

This project establishes for the first time critical texts of all known works by Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720), one of the most important early women poets in English. In an era known for the public and political poetry of Dryden, Swift, and Pope, Finch articulated a different poetic and political authority from her position as a female aristocrat at court and then a political internal exile. Cambridge University Press will publish the two-volume edition. The library of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will assist with and maintain the open-access digital archive of her works. These print and digital resources will enable scholars and their students in the humanities to discover how Finch's work is crucial to grounding historically our continuing questions in the humanities, including, how to articulate and connect the domains of governmental politics, personal desires, spiritual ideals, and women's artistry and experience.

Associated Products

The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea: Volume I, Early Manuscript Books (Book)
Title: The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea: Volume I, Early Manuscript Books
Author: Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea
Editor: Rachel Bowman, Research Assistant
Editor: Jennifer Keith, General editor, Text and Commentary
Editor: Jean I. Marsden, Associate Editor and Commentary on the Plays
Editor: Claudia Thomas Kairoff, Commentary
Abstract: This is the first ever complete critical edition of the writings of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), including work printed in her lifetime and material left in manuscript form at her death. Textual analysis, based on print and manuscript copies in repositories across the United Kingdom and the United States, reveals her revision processes and uses of manuscript and print. Extensive commentary clarifies her techniques, sources, contexts, and diction. A detailed essay traces the history of her works' reception and transmission. The result is a complete view of her achievements that will promote more accurate assessments of her contributions to literary and cultural shifts, including perspectives on literary value, women's equality, religion, and affairs of state. This first volume provides established texts of Finch's early manuscript books, including Poems on Several Subjects and Miscellany Poems with Two Plays written under her pen name, Ardelia.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/cambridge-edition-of-the-works-of-anne-finch-countess-of-winchilsea-volume-i-early-manuscript-books/oclc/1130273660&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/literature/english-literature-1700-1830/cambridge-edition-works-anne-finch-countess-winchilsea-volume-1?format=HB
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Access Model: Book
Publisher: Cambridge, New York, Port Melbourne, and New Delhi: Cambridge University Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9781107068605
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea: Volume 2, Later Collections, Print and Manuscript (Book)
Title: The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea: Volume 2, Later Collections, Print and Manuscript
Author: Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea
Editor: Jennifer Keith (senior editor)
Editor: Claudia Thomas Kairoff (associate editor, Volumes 1 and 2)
Editor: Jean I. Marsden (associate editor for the plays, Volume 1)
Abstract: Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), was one of the earliest published women poets in England, highly regarded in her own day and throughout the eighteenth century, and now being discovered again by modern readers. This first ever complete critical edition of her works provides authoritative texts, textual apparatus, and commentary for all known works by this important writer. Volume 2 establishes the texts of works in Finch’s later collections in print and manuscript. All of the works in her authorized print volume—Miscellany Poems, on Several Occasions (1713)—that do not appear in Volume 1 with her early manuscript books are included in Volume 2. The Wellesley Manuscript, presented in its entirety, is accompanied by detailed textual and explanatory notes informed by new research. The purpose of the Wellesley Manuscript is considered anew in light of plans recorded by Finch’s husband for an expanded print publication of her work. Volume 2 also includes Finch’s uncollected poems and letters, some of which are printed for the first time. A detailed essay traces the history of her works’ reception and transmission.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/literature/english-literature-1700-1830/cambridge-edition-works-anne-finch-countess-winchilsea-volume-2?format=HB
Primary URL Description: Link to book on Cambridge University Press's website.
Access Model: print book (will be available as an e-book in 2022)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 9781107068650
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

The Anne Finch Digital Archive (Web Resource)
Title: The Anne Finch Digital Archive
Author: Jennifer Keith
Author: Claudia Thomas Kairoff
Abstract: Complementing the two-volume print edition The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (2019–21), edited by Jennifer Keith with Claudia Thomas Kairoff, the Anne Finch Digital Archive provides open access to selected materials. Both projects are edited by Jennifer Keith with Claudia Thomas Kairoff. Materials on the digital site enable readers to explore the archival elements used to construct and analyze Finch’s texts. The featured poems on this site were selected from a great range and number in Finch’s œuvre to illustrate her work in different poetic kinds and themes. For every featured poem, the site includes commentary with embedded links to illustrations, information about composition and printing dates and sources, audio files of the poem read aloud, and source copies showing authorized manuscript and print texts with transcriptions. We will continue to add resources to the site, including recordings of musical performances of the songs featured here. The multimedia elements of this site reflect the various ways that Finch’s work engaged her contemporary readers and listeners, who knew her work in manuscript, print, or performance, or in all of these forms.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://http://libresearch.uncg.edu/AnneFinch
Primary URL Description: home page of the open-access Anne Finch Digital Archive

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