In this weighty edition of Elizabeth Cooke Hoby Russell's works, based
on extensive archival research, Patricia Phillippy brings together all
known writings by her: letters, poems in English, Latin, and Greek,
documents describing and planning christenings, weddings, and funerals,
monumental inscriptions, entertainments, petitions, and Russell's will.
This ambitious and timely collection puts into practice recent critical
arguments about the nature of women's writings and the importance of
occasional verse, familial poetry, letters, and petitions as
characteristically women's work. This collection also situates Russell,
a woman, squarely and influentially in the humanist tradition, and
explores her important place in English letters. This edition moves the
field of early modern women's studies into new territory, with its
treatment of monumental verse as an integral part of Russell's oeuvre.
--Jane Donawerth
Professor of English and affiliate faculty in women's studies
University of Maryland