From the exemplary to the notorious to the obscure, this comprehensive and innovative encyclopedia showcases the worthy women of early modern England. Poets, princesses, or pirates, the women found in these pages are indeed worth knowing and this volume will introduce many female figures to even the most established scholars in the field. The book is well illustrated and liberally sprinkled with quotations either by or about the women in the text.

TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1. ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, AND ENTERTAINERS Beale, Mary Cradock Beale Horenbout, Susanna Horenbout [Horenbolte] Parker Gilman Inglis, Esther Inglis Kello Jane the Fool Perwich, Susanna Perwich Teerlinc, Levina Benninck Teerlinc Thomasina 2. CRIMINALS Abbott, Elizabeth Abbott Arden, Alice Arden Barnes, Elizabeth Barnes Baynton, Mary Baynton Bridgestone, Ann Bridgestone Brigge, Mabel Brigge Bulmer, Margaret Cheyne Bulmer Caldwell, Elizabeth Caldwell Chamber, Rebecca Chamber Champion, Mary Champion Clarke, Alice Clarke Cowland, Alice Cowland Crofte, Elizabeth Crofte Davis, Alice Davis Davy, Margaret Davy [Davie] Dell, Annis Dell Downes, Katherine Stamfort Downes Drewry, Anne Drewry [Drewie, Calfield] Evans, Elizabeth Evans [Canberry Bess] Ferneseede, Margaret Ferneseede Ferrers, Katherine Ferrers Fanshawe Francis, Katherine Francis Frith, Mary Frith [Moll Cutpurse] Greene, Anne Greene Gunter, Anne Gunter Hamton, Anne Hamton Hattersley, Jane Hattersley Hayward, Petronella Brightred Hayward Helliker, Joan Helliker Howard, Frances Howard Devereux Carr, Countess of Essex and Somerset Hungerford, Agnes Cotell Hungerford Lake, Mary Ryder Lake Osborne, Mary Osborne Page, Eulalia Glanfield Page Pendleton, Ellen Pendleton Floder Phelps, Judith Phelps Rodney, Anne Lake Cecil Rodney, Lady Ros Saunders, Anne Saunders Scambler, Martha Scambler Throckmorton, Frances Brydges Throckmorton Turner, Ann Norton Turner Vincent, Margaret Vincent Wallen, Anne Wallen