Before Victoria: Extraordinary Women of the British Romantic Era (review)

Abstract

The remarkable Carl H. Pforzheimer collection formed the basis for a wide-ranging New York Public Library exhibition of documents and artifacts recording the lives of extraordinary British women active during the period between the French Revolution and Victoria's accession to the throne in 1837. As Stephen Wagner, the curator of the Pforzheimer collection and co-curator of the exhibition with Elizabeth Campbell Denlinger, notes in his afterword to the catalog, the collection-best known for its wealth of material on Shelley and his compatriots-continues to expand its holdings. These now include extensive materials relating to the women surrounding Lord Byron as well as documents relating to the French Revolution, publishing history, social reform, travel, and science and technology. The exhibition showcased the depth of these resources and the extent of the collection's materials concerning women during a period of critical interest for feminist studies.