"Resigning the Needle for the Pen"
"Resigning the Needle for the Pen": A Study of Autobiographical Writings of British Women Before 1800 was completed by Cynthia S. Pomerleau in partial fulfillment of the requirements for her doctoral degree in 18th Century English Literature, awarded by the University of Pennsylvania in 1974.
Although an excerpt of this document was subsequently published in a book of scholarly essays on women’s autobiography,* the full text (done on an IBM Selectric typewriter!) was available only via University Microfilms. Nevertheless, over the years, despite its obscurity, Dr. Pomerleau heard from enough people from all over the world to realize that it had developed its own little cult following, probably because at least at the time it filled an otherwise unoccupied niche. Dr. Pomerleau later had it word-processed and added a new introduction; that version is available for download free of charge from the University of Pennsylvania website:
Although an excerpt of this document was subsequently published in a book of scholarly essays on women’s autobiography,* the full text (done on an IBM Selectric typewriter!) was available only via University Microfilms. Nevertheless, over the years, despite its obscurity, Dr. Pomerleau heard from enough people from all over the world to realize that it had developed its own little cult following, probably because at least at the time it filled an otherwise unoccupied niche. Dr. Pomerleau later had it word-processed and added a new introduction; that version is available for download free of charge from the University of Pennsylvania website:
* Portions of the manuscript were revised for publication in Women's Autobiography: Essays in Criticism, edited by Estelle C. Jelinek (Indiana University Press, 1980).