| This dissertation is an edition of the complete known surviving poems of Lady Hester Pulter (1605?--1678), found in a manuscript at the Brotherton Library at Leeds in Yorkshire, England, Ms Lt q 32. Hester Pulter, daughter of James Ley, first Earl of Marlborough (1552--1629), lived at the estate of Broadfields in Hertfordshire most of her life; her poems, including a series of emblem-poems, reflect her sympathy for King Charles I and her religious and personal concerns, as well as her curiosity about science, during the period of the English Commonwealth. This edition maintains the spelling and punctuation of the original manuscript, probably created by a scribe and Lady Hester Pulter herself, and has been extensively annotated to explain mythological, Biblical, literary, political, and historical references. A scholarly introduction describes Pulter's life, reading, social setting, and place in literature. |
