SOURCE: McDowell, Paula. “Oral Religio-Political Activism and Textual Production” and “Metaphors of Being and Modes of Empowerment.” In Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, pp. 128–214. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.

In this excerpt from her study of the relationship between the growth of a print-based literary marketplace and the increase in feminine authorship, McDowell considers Lead's career next to those of several other literary women. McDowell discusses Lead's ability to capitalize on the print medium to disseminate her views widely, but also notes that Lead's spiritual beliefs distinguish her works from the more individualist, humanist views of better known writers such as Mary Astell or the Duchess of Newcastle.

Oral Religio-political Activism and Textual Production

Protestant mystic and spiritual autobiographer Jane Lead (1623-1704) was born into an Anglican family in Norfolk.¹ At about 16 years of age, she committed herself to a lifelong search...