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Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck

April 11, 2024

Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck were English sisters and co-authors during the Romantic era who published six novels between 1789 and 1802.[1][2]

Anon. [Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck] Raynsford Park, a novel in four volumes. Vol. 1 (London, 1790).

Life edit

Elizabeth (baptized 1746) and Jane were two of the four daughters of William Purbeck and Elizabeth Kingsman (died 1781); the other two were Sarah (Sally, baptized 1749, died 1821) and Margaretta (Peggy, baptized 1752). William Purbeck was the Mayor of Southampton circa 1763 and the sisters remained in that city after their parents died,[2][3] although they also lived for a time in Bath.[4] None of the sisters married and they lived together for their entire lives.[2][4]

Writing edit

The sisters were involved in literary circles in Southhampton and Bath.[3][5] They knew Sophia Lee, met Hester Thrale Piozzi at Bath, and participated in subscription drives for other writers such as Eliza Parsons.[6] Their first novel, Honoria Sommerville (1789), is a "heroine's progress"[7] which received positive reviews.[8] Their third, William Thornborough, the benevolent Quixote (1791) explores masculine virtue, following Samuel Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison. Again following Richardson, who popularized the epistolary novel, three of the Purbecks' novels are presented in a series of letters: Raynsford Park (1790), Matilda and Elizabeth (1796), and Neville Castle (1802). These three novels received the poorest reviews, perhaps because readers and critics were tired of the epistolary format by the end of the century.[9] In Neville Castle, their final novel, various other contemporary novelists are discussed, and Frances Burney and Sophia Lee are favoured over Richardson and Henry Fielding.[7]

None of the Purbecks' novels were published under their own names; they were either published anonymously,[1] or, latterly, "by the author of ...". The first edition of The history of Sir George Warrington; or the political Quixote (1797), their fifth novel, was wrongly attributed to better-known novelist Charlotte Lennox[1][10] when it was marketed by their new publisher, John Bell, a "mischievous spirit, the very Puck of booksellers",[11] as the work of "the author of the Female Quixote".[12] Lennox was the author of the popular The Female Quixote; "the benevolent Quixote"[13] was the actual subtitle of the Purbeck sisters' third novel. The mistake was corrected in a second edition.[14]

The sixth and final Purbeck novel, Neville Castle; or, The Generous Cambrians (London: Plummer; Dutton; Cawthorn, 1802) has been ascribed to Jane Purbeck alone[15] and was possibly published after Elizabeth Purbeck's death, though others have suggested that the novel was written well before its actual publication.[7]

Critical reception edit

Honoria Sommerville received the most contemporary attention of all the Purbeck novels: it was reviewed in a number of English publications, including Analytical Review, New Annual Register, General Magazine, and The Critical Review.[2] In a positive review of the novel, Town and Country Magazine wrote "If all novels were written with the propriety and knowledge which distinguishes these volumes, circulating libraries would no longer be declared nuisances."[16]

Their other novels, such as Raynsford Park, also received contemporary attention, with reviews in English Review and additional publications.[2] Although one reviewer wrote dismissively that Neville Castle; or, The Generous Cambrians "possess[es] at least the merit of speaking benevolently of the sisterhood of antiquated virgins",[17] it, along with Sir George Warrington, was said to offer a "vibrant philosophical and political treatment"[8] of the revolutionary politics of the time.[7]

In 1822, The Gentleman's Magazine wrote that the novels of Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck were "much read and approved of, being well calculated to inculcate virtuous principles, and to expose vice."[4]

In an essay in the 2023 book Recovering Women's Past: New Epistemologies, New Ventures, María Jesús Lorenzo-Modia states that "The Purbeck sisters are instrumental in the analysis of both gender and political issues in the late eighteenth century."[18] Lorenzo-Modia added that Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck "had a great deal to say on the key gender, political, literary, and philosophical debates that were taking place at the turn of the century".[18]

Works edit

Bibliography edit

  • Anonymous. Honoria Sommerville: a novel. In four volumes. London: George, George, John and James Robinson[19] / Dublin: P. Byrne, P. Wogan, J. Moore, and J. Halpen,[20] 1789. (2nd London ed. 1789)[21]
  • Anonymous. Raynsford Park, a novel. In four volumes. London: George Kearsley, 1790.[22]
  • Anonymous. William Thornborough, the benevolent Quixote. In four volumes. London: George, George, John and James Robinson, 1791.[13]
  • Matilda and Elizabeth: a novel. By the authors of Honoria Somerville, Rainsford Park, The benevolent Quixote, &c. &c. In four volumes. London: Sampson Low, C. Law, and E. Booker[23] / Dublin: P. Wogan, P. Byrne, J. Moore, and H. Colbert,[24] 1796.
  • The history of Sir George Warrington; or the political Quixote. By the author of The female Quixote. In three volumes. London: John Bell, 1797.[12] (2nd ed. with corrected attribution came out that same year.)[14]
  • Neville Castle; or, The Generous Cambrians. A Novel, in Four Volumes. By the Author of Raynsford Park. London: T. Plummer; R. Dutton; and J. Cawthorn, 1802.[15]

Etexts edit

  • Honoria Sommerville (1789). (Transcription available as a PDF from Chawton House.)
  • Raynsford Park (1790). (Google, Vol. 1.)
  • Etexts of other novels are available from licensed services ECCO and NCCO.

Notes and references edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c Lorenzo-Modia 2023, p. 185.
  2. ^ a b c d e Romantic Women Writers Reviewed, Part 1 by Ann R Hawkins, Taylor & Francis, 2022, page 329.
  3. ^ a b Harris.
  4. ^ a b c The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, volume 92, part 1, 1822, page 91.
  5. ^ Butler.
  6. ^ "Eliza Parsons". Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  7. ^ a b c d Blain et al, p. 879.
  8. ^ a b Lorenzo-Modia, p. 186.
  9. ^ Gibbs, Samantha. "Critical Reception of the Works of Elizabeth & Jane Purbeck".
  10. ^ "Elizabeth Purbeck". Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  11. ^ Harrison, Robert (1885). "Bell, John (1745-1831)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  12. ^ a b Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. The history of Sir George Warrington; or the political Quixote. By the author of The female Quixote. In three volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 2449. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  13. ^ a b Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. William Thornborough, the benevolent Quixote. In four volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 4843. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  14. ^ a b Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. The history of Sir George Warrington: or the political Quixote. By the author of The benevolent Quixote. etc. etc. Second edition. In three volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8443. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  15. ^ a b Purbeck, Jane. Neville Castle; or, The Generous Cambrians. A Novel, in Four Volumes. By the Author of Raynsford Park. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8576. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  16. ^ Encyclopedia of the British Novel by Virginia Brackett and Victoria Gaydosik, Facts on File, 2015.
  17. ^ Review, New Annual Register / JAS, 1802, vol. 23 (1802): 322. (see Corvey Women Writers on the Web)
  18. ^ a b Lorenzo-Modia 2023, p. 202.
  19. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Honoria Sommerville: a novel. In four volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 4831. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  20. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Honoria Sommerville: a novel. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8138. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  21. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Honoria Sommerville: a novel. In four volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8137. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  22. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Raynsford Park, a novel. In four volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 4835. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  23. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Matilda and Elizabeth: a novel. By the authors of Honoria Somerville, Rainsford Park, The benevolent Quixote, &c. &c. In four volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 4872. Accessed 2023-08-07.
  24. ^ Purbeck, Jane, Purbeck, Elizabeth. Matilda and Elizabeth: a novel. By the authors of Honoria Somerville, Rainsford Park, The benevolent Quixote, &c. &c. In two volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 4861. Accessed 2023-08-07.

Bibliography edit

Books
  • Lorenzo-Modia, María Jesús (2023). "Women-Authored Collaboration at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century". In Séverine Genieys-Kirk (ed.). Recovering Women's Past: New Epistemologies, New Ventures. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1496231796.
  • Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. (Internet Archive)
Journals
  • Butler, Cheryl. "Jane Austen, Netley Abbey, and Gothic Tourism." Persuasions Online. Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) 40.1 (Winter 2019). Accessed 2023-08-07.
  • Harris, Nicola. "An eighteenth-century letter from Bath to Dorset." The Thomas Hardy Yearbook, vol. 37, 2008, pp. 66–76. ProQuest.
  • Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
  • The Women's Print History Project

Further reading edit

  • Bandry-Scubbi, Anne. "Chawton Novels Online, Women's Writing 1751-1834 and Computer- Aided Textual Analysis." Abo, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, pp. 0_1,1-54. ProQuest.
  • Bannet, Eve Tavor. "Quixotes, Imitations, and Transatlantic Genres." Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 40, no. 4, 2007, pp. 553–69. JSTOR. Accessed 10 Aug. 2023.
  • Dale, Amelia. The Printed Reader: Gender, Quixotism, and Textual Bodies in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Rutgers University Press, 2019. ISBN 9781684481064
  • Puyal, Miriam B. "Reading Don Quixote as Political Agent: A Spanish Knight in British Ideological and Literary Wars". ES: Revista de Filología Inglesa / Spanish Journal of English Studies, vol. 33, 2012, pp. 7–25. ProQuest. Accessed 10 Aug. 2023.

External links edit

  • "Elizabeth Purbeck": Corvey Women Writers on the Web Author's Page
  • "Jane Purbeck": Corvey Women Writers on the Web Author's Page

April 11, 2024
elizabeth, purbeck, jane, purbeck, were, english, sisters, authors, during, romantic, published, novels, between, 1789, 1802, anon, elizabeth, jane, purbeck, raynsford, park, novel, four, volumes, london, 1790, contents, life, writing, critical, reception, wor. Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck were English sisters and co authors during the Romantic era who published six novels between 1789 and 1802 1 2 Anon Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck Raynsford Park a novel in four volumes Vol 1 London 1790 Contents 1 Life 2 Writing 3 Critical reception 4 Works 4 1 Bibliography 4 2 Etexts 5 Notes and references 5 1 Notes 5 2 Bibliography 5 3 Further reading 6 External linksLife editElizabeth baptized 1746 and Jane were two of the four daughters of William Purbeck and Elizabeth Kingsman died 1781 the other two were Sarah Sally baptized 1749 died 1821 and Margaretta Peggy baptized 1752 William Purbeck was the Mayor of Southampton circa 1763 and the sisters remained in that city after their parents died 2 3 although they also lived for a time in Bath 4 None of the sisters married and they lived together for their entire lives 2 4 Writing editThe sisters were involved in literary circles in Southhampton and Bath 3 5 They knew Sophia Lee met Hester Thrale Piozzi at Bath and participated in subscription drives for other writers such as Eliza Parsons 6 Their first novel Honoria Sommerville 1789 is a heroine s progress 7 which received positive reviews 8 Their third William Thornborough the benevolent Quixote 1791 explores masculine virtue following Samuel Richardson s Sir Charles Grandison Again following Richardson who popularized the epistolary novel three of the Purbecks novels are presented in a series of letters Raynsford Park 1790 Matilda and Elizabeth 1796 and Neville Castle 1802 These three novels received the poorest reviews perhaps because readers and critics were tired of the epistolary format by the end of the century 9 In Neville Castle their final novel various other contemporary novelists are discussed and Frances Burney and Sophia Lee are favoured over Richardson and Henry Fielding 7 None of the Purbecks novels were published under their own names they were either published anonymously 1 or latterly by the author of The first edition of The history of Sir George Warrington or the political Quixote 1797 their fifth novel was wrongly attributed to better known novelist Charlotte Lennox 1 10 when it was marketed by their new publisher John Bell a mischievous spirit the very Puck of booksellers 11 as the work of the author of the Female Quixote 12 Lennox was the author of the popular The Female Quixote the benevolent Quixote 13 was the actual subtitle of the Purbeck sisters third novel The mistake was corrected in a second edition 14 The sixth and final Purbeck novel Neville Castle or The Generous Cambrians London Plummer Dutton Cawthorn 1802 has been ascribed to Jane Purbeck alone 15 and was possibly published after Elizabeth Purbeck s death though others have suggested that the novel was written well before its actual publication 7 Critical reception editHonoria Sommerville received the most contemporary attention of all the Purbeck novels it was reviewed in a number of English publications including Analytical Review New Annual Register General Magazine and The Critical Review 2 In a positive review of the novel Town and Country Magazine wrote If all novels were written with the propriety and knowledge which distinguishes these volumes circulating libraries would no longer be declared nuisances 16 Their other novels such as Raynsford Park also received contemporary attention with reviews in English Review and additional publications 2 Although one reviewer wrote dismissively that Neville Castle or The Generous Cambrians possess es at least the merit of speaking benevolently of the sisterhood of antiquated virgins 17 it along with Sir George Warrington was said to offer a vibrant philosophical and political treatment 8 of the revolutionary politics of the time 7 In 1822 The Gentleman s Magazine wrote that the novels of Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck were much read and approved of being well calculated to inculcate virtuous principles and to expose vice 4 In an essay in the 2023 book Recovering Women s Past New Epistemologies New Ventures Maria Jesus Lorenzo Modia states that The Purbeck sisters are instrumental in the analysis of both gender and political issues in the late eighteenth century 18 Lorenzo Modia added that Elizabeth and Jane Purbeck had a great deal to say on the key gender political literary and philosophical debates that were taking place at the turn of the century 18 Works editBibliography edit Anonymous Honoria Sommerville a novel In four volumes London George George John and James Robinson 19 Dublin P Byrne P Wogan J Moore and J Halpen 20 1789 2nd London ed 1789 21 Anonymous Raynsford Park a novel In four volumes London George Kearsley 1790 22 Anonymous William Thornborough the benevolent Quixote In four volumes London George George John and James Robinson 1791 13 Matilda and Elizabeth a novel By the authors of Honoria Somerville Rainsford Park The benevolent Quixote amp c amp c In four volumes London Sampson Low C Law and E Booker 23 Dublin P Wogan P Byrne J Moore and H Colbert 24 1796 The history of Sir George Warrington or the political Quixote By the author of The female Quixote In three volumes London John Bell 1797 12 2nd ed with corrected attribution came out that same year 14 Neville Castle or The Generous Cambrians A Novel in Four Volumes By the Author of Raynsford Park London T Plummer R Dutton and J Cawthorn 1802 15 Etexts edit Honoria Sommerville 1789 Transcription available as a PDF from Chawton House Raynsford Park 1790 Google Vol 1 Etexts of other novels are available from licensed services ECCO and NCCO Notes and references editNotes edit a b c Lorenzo Modia 2023 p 185 a b c d e Romantic Women Writers Reviewed Part 1 by Ann R Hawkins Taylor amp Francis 2022 page 329 a b Harris a b c The Gentleman s Magazine and Historical Chronicle volume 92 part 1 1822 page 91 Butler Eliza Parsons Orlando Women s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present Accessed 2023 08 07 a b c d Blain et al p 879 a b Lorenzo Modia p 186 Gibbs Samantha Critical Reception of the Works of Elizabeth amp Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Purbeck Orlando Women s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present Accessed 2023 08 07 Harrison Robert 1885 Bell John 1745 1831 In Stephen Leslie ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 4 London Smith Elder amp Co a b Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth The history of Sir George Warrington or the political Quixote By the author of The female Quixote In three volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 2449 Accessed 2023 08 07 a b Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth William Thornborough the benevolent Quixote In four volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 4843 Accessed 2023 08 07 a b Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth The history of Sir George Warrington or the political Quixote By the author of The benevolent Quixote etc etc Second edition In three volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 8443 Accessed 2023 08 07 a b Purbeck Jane Neville Castle or The Generous Cambrians A Novel in Four Volumes By the Author of Raynsford Park The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 8576 Accessed 2023 08 07 Encyclopedia of the British Novel by Virginia Brackett and Victoria Gaydosik Facts on File 2015 Review New Annual Register JAS 1802 vol 23 1802 322 see Corvey Women Writers on the Web a b Lorenzo Modia 2023 p 202 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Honoria Sommerville a novel In four volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 4831 Accessed 2023 08 07 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Honoria Sommerville a novel The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 8138 Accessed 2023 08 07 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Honoria Sommerville a novel In four volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 8137 Accessed 2023 08 07 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Raynsford Park a novel In four volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 4835 Accessed 2023 08 07 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Matilda and Elizabeth a novel By the authors of Honoria Somerville Rainsford Park The benevolent Quixote amp c amp c In four volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 4872 Accessed 2023 08 07 Purbeck Jane Purbeck Elizabeth Matilda and Elizabeth a novel By the authors of Honoria Somerville Rainsford Park The benevolent Quixote amp c amp c In two volumes The Women s Print History Project 2019 title ID 4861 Accessed 2023 08 07 Bibliography edit BooksLorenzo Modia Maria Jesus 2023 Women Authored Collaboration at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century In Severine Genieys Kirk ed Recovering Women s Past New Epistemologies New Ventures University of Nebraska Press ISBN 978 1496231796 Blain Virginia et al eds The Feminist Companion to Literature in English New Haven and London Yale UP 1990 Internet Archive JournalsButler Cheryl Jane Austen Netley Abbey and Gothic Tourism Persuasions Online Jane Austen Society of North America JASNA 40 1 Winter 2019 Accessed 2023 08 07 Harris Nicola An eighteenth century letter from Bath to Dorset The Thomas Hardy Yearbook vol 37 2008 pp 66 76 ProQuest Orlando Women s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present The Women s Print History Project Further reading edit Bandry Scubbi Anne Chawton Novels Online Women s Writing 1751 1834 and Computer Aided Textual Analysis Abo vol 5 no 2 2015 pp 0 1 1 54 ProQuest Bannet Eve Tavor Quixotes Imitations and Transatlantic Genres Eighteenth Century Studies vol 40 no 4 2007 pp 553 69 JSTOR Accessed 10 Aug 2023 Dale Amelia The Printed Reader Gender Quixotism and Textual Bodies in Eighteenth Century Britain Rutgers University Press 2019 ISBN 9781684481064 Puyal Miriam B Reading Don Quixote as Political Agent A Spanish Knight in British Ideological and Literary Wars ES Revista de Filologia Inglesa Spanish Journal of English Studies vol 33 2012 pp 7 25 ProQuest Accessed 10 Aug 2023 External links edit Elizabeth Purbeck Corvey Women Writers on the Web Author s Page Jane Purbeck Corvey Women Writers on the Web Author s Page Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck amp oldid 1215884976, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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