Christine de Pizan: Life, Work, Legacy

(Hardback)

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Description

The daughter of a court intellectual, Christine de Pizan dwelled within the heart of late-medieval Paris. In the face of personal tragedy, she learned the tools of the booktrade, writing more than 40 works including poetry, historical and political treatises and defenses of women.

In this new biography, the first written for a general audience, Charlotte Cooper-Davis discusses the life and work of a pioneering female thinker and writer. She shows how Christines inspiration came from the world around her, situates Christine as an entrepreneur within the context of her times and place, and finally examines Christines influence on the most avant-garde of feminist artists, through which she is slowly making a return into mainstream popular culture.

Reviews

"Cooper-Davis deftly shows how Christine's prolific literary career depended on both her access to books and libraries and her first-hand experience in the Parisian book trade, where some of the most luxurious medieval manuscripts were made. Concluding with a look at how Christine's work currently inspires artists and even animates popular culture, Christine de Pizan: Life, Work, Legacy is a portrait of a medieval woman for the ages."--Marilynn Desmond, distinguished professor, English and medieval studies, Binghamton University, New York

Author Bio

Charlotte Cooper-Davis is a lecturer in French at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Christine de Pizan: Empowering Women in Text and Image and lives in Cambridgeshire.