This book is the first dedicated study of Alice Thornton (1626–1707) and her life writings, offering unprecedented insights into how one early modern woman revised and reshaped her life story over 40 years, using newly accessible manuscripts and archival sources. Readers will gain fresh perspectives on Thornton’s writings through a comprehensive collection of fifteen chapters that utilize a new digital edition and previously unexplored archival materials. It puts Thornton in the context of seventeenth-century North Yorkshire, England, Ireland and North America by looking at a diverse range of themes such as religion, law, colonialism, the environment, health care, memory, emotion, marriage, and family. The collection provides fresh insights on previously discussed areas, introduces new avenues for research, and reassesses Thornton’s life and significance. This book is ideal for students, teachers, and researchers of early modern literature and history, particularly those interested in women’s writings, seventeenth-century studies, and digital humanities. It provides valuable insights for anyone studying gender, autobiography, and cultural and social history in the early modern period.
