Janet Todd
Published: 1994
Total Pages: 225
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Mary Frith, a procurer and fence known as Mal Cutpurse, and Mary Carleton, indicted for bigamy, are the subjects of the first two female criminal autobiographies. The 17th century women caught the public's imagination, becoming historical and mythical figures who chafed at the restrictions imposed on women of their times. Their stories were first published a year apart in the 1660s, before the time when a Romantic interest in the self turned autobiography into a familiar literary form. Includes extensive notes and two appendices: a table of dates for Mal Cutpurse and the Mary Carleton pamphlets. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR