Brings together 11 essays that explore British & American Victorian representations of the adolescent girl. The variety of contemporary sources on which the essays draw includes conduct books, housekeeping manuals, periodicals, biographies, photos, paintings, & educational treatises. The institutions, practices, & literatures discussed in this volume reveal the ways in which the Girl expressed her independence, as well as the ways in which she was presented & controlled. Many of the contributors note that 19th-century visions of girlhood in both Britain & the U.S. were extremely ambiguous. Illustrated.

A tribute to more than 350 years of literary works features the fables, alphabet stories, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, picture books, and illustrations of 170 authors and artists, in a slipcased volume that includes discussions on the cultural contexts of children's literature as well as author annotations and bibliographies. Original. 20,000 first printing.

Product Description: This collection breaks new ground in the area of gender studies both because it creates a name for gender fantasy--virtual gender--that introduces a new understanding of the concept, and in expanding the idea of virtuality to include people and events in history...read more

Product Description: In the 18th and 19th centuries girls were portrayed by the British and Americans as figures of adornment in need of rescue and reform. This book investigates such portrayals by analyzing literature, conduct manuals, religious tracts, institutions and social practices and phenomena of the period...read more