Introduction: Hidden Legacies

Summary

… there are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is a herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex to overcome, which require almost superhuman powers.

Mary Wollstonecraft¹

This volume seeks to recover the stories of many women working as printmakers, printsellers, and print publishers in the long eighteenth century whose ‘herculean’ labour and legacies have been hidden in history, obscured by gender bias. Its chapters are written by scholars with diverse perspectives and expertise, and together they bring forth materials that suggest the powers of the collective contributions of women to the print world.