Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676 - Paperback

by Jessica L. Malay (Editor)

This edition of Anne Clifford's (1590-1676) diaries and memoirs is the first to include all of her autobiographical writing. Clifford was a prominent noble woman who writes about her experiences in the courts of Elizabeth, James and Charles I. She tells the story of her decades long battle to secure her inheritance of the Clifford lands of the north, which included taking on powerful men like James I. She describes the challenges she faced when she finally inherited the Clifford lands, torn by civil war, poverty and neglect. Her writings about her life reveal her joys and griefs, including the loss of children. Anne Clifford was vulnerable and determined, charitable and canny. Her diaries and memoirs provide a window into the life and thoughts of this indomitable woman.

Front Jacket

Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) lived a long and rich life, experiencing the courts of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I, as well as the dangers of the civil wars. She was an aristocrat, historical scholar, Sheriff and Lord of Westmorland, daughter, mother and wife. Her autobiographies tell the dramatic story of her battles to gain the inheritance of her father's vast Northern lands, and her later attempts to protect her rights in these lands against antagonistic tenants, hostile military administrations, and the vagaries of wars and political movements. She describes her often unhappy marriages to Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset and Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. We see her joy in the lives of her daughters and their children, and her friendships with a wide circle of aristocratic and more humble people. And always there is the backdrop of the daily affairs of her life. Anne Clifford's autobiographies provide one of the most comprehensive descriptions of life in the seventeenth century. They creatively engage and innovate with a variety of narrative forms within the emerging genre of autobiography. They tell a dramatic story, and will attract readers interested in the seventeenth century, the lives of individuals in times of conflict, and certainly those already interested in the life of Anne Clifford. Scholars of early modern culture, history and literary studies will find this material invaluable.

Back Jacket

Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) lived a long and rich life, experiencing the courts of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I, as well as the dangers of the civil wars. She was an aristocrat, historical scholar, Sheriff and Lord of Westmorland, daughter, mother and wife. Her autobiographies tell the dramatic story of her battles to gain the inheritance of her father's vast Northern lands, and her later attempts to protect her rights in these lands against antagonistic tenants, hostile military administrations, and the vagaries of wars and political movements. She describes her often unhappy marriages to Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset and Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. We see her joy in the lives of her daughters and their children, and her friendships with a wide circle of aristocratic and more humble people. And always there is the backdrop of the daily affairs of her life.

Anne Clifford's autobiographies provide one of the most comprehensive descriptions of life in the seventeenth century. They creatively engage and innovate with a variety of narrative forms within the emerging genre of autobiography. They tell a dramatic story, and will attract readers interested in the seventeenth century, the lives of individuals in times of conflict, and certainly those already interested in the life of Anne Clifford. Scholars of early modern culture, history and literary studies will find this material invaluable.

Author Biography

Jessica L. Malay is Professor of English Renaissance Literature at the University of Huddersfield