Women Stationers

This entry explores the contribution of English women stationers (especially publishers and printers) to the dissemination of writings by early modern women. Female stationers published and printed in all the genres in which women writers were active, helping promote their works in a competitive book market. This entry concentrates primarily on the publication and printing of secular works by women, placing them in the context of the careers of a small group of female stationers. For most of the women this entry discusses, works by female authors were not a central part of their portfolio. Nonetheless, their role in keeping women’s books in bookstalls cannot be overlooked. This entry makes the case for the importance of female labor to the emergence of female authors, especially in the often-unacknowledged form of reprints and multiple editions of works by women writers. In addition, it takes a closer look not just at female publishers, but also at the cultural work performed by printers.