Anne Finch in the twenty‐first century: Finding the artist in history

AbstractMuch twenty‐first century scholarship on the work of Anne Finch shows that scholars increasingly see her artistry, proto‐feminism, and Jacobitism as creating a complex whole. Attending to the interrelations of these topics in Finch's work, scholars have found still more evidence for, and complications of, their claims by analyzing the archival record, particularly as it reveals her canny participation in manuscript and print publishing. Finch scholars find that her work fosters enquiries that also extend beyond her oeuvre, including revision of the contours of literary history and value as well as reassessment of women writers' level of engagement in their contemporary literary and sociopolitical contexts. That this much has been achieved in Finch studies without a scholarly edition of her work is remarkable, but many gaps persist because scholars have lacked access to critically established texts that have been placed in their archival and cultural contexts. Such gaps are widened by the fact that many of her works are still understudied, with some entirely ignored. This attention to a small portion of Finch's oeuvre cannot provide an accurate view of the extent of her literary innovations; the nuances of her political and social views; or even an outline of the literary, social, and political relations that guided her uses of manuscript and print publishing. The close of the essay proposes future directions for Finch studies when scholars will have in hand The Cambridge edition of the works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea.