Poems by a Sixteenth-Century Gentlewoman, Maid, and Servant

"Isabella Whitney published two poetic miscellanies of secular poems: The Copy of a Letter (1567) and A Sweet Nosegay (1573), each of which includes her own work and a total of six poems by five different male authors across both publications. The present edition prints modernized texts of the complete miscellanies and also six poems attributed to Whitney. These poems provide a rich portrait of sixteenth-century female courtship and its dangers, a unique view of class and gender in Whitney's lifetime, and a portrait of London as a burgeoning market of practical goods and luxury items from foodstuffs to imported silk"--