Published in hardback as "Pursuing the Muses" (1998), this volume is about local history as communication in literary form. The writers speak to each other across the counties (Wiltshire, Somerset, Hampshire and Dorset). They are linked in a non-conformist family network and their media are vivid letters, diaries and poetry. Their commonplace books and school books tell us what they read and how they were educated. The first part looks at how 18th-century young women with literary aspirations escaped from the typical girls' school to gain their real education from male friends, advocates of the "blue stockings". The middle part focuses on a literary circle (mostly women) who combined spiritual piety with contemporary classical/pastoral romance, writing hymns but also exchanging playful verse with friends who were Baptist divines. The last part, covering the 19th century, follows this literary tradition through four generations in one village in Wiltshire.
- ISBN10 0718502361
- ISBN13 9780718502362
- Publish Date 1 June 2000
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 29 June 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Imprint Leicester University Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 222
- Language English