The mission of the Brown University Women Writers Project is to create, develop, and make accessible a state‐of‐the‐art electronic full‐text database of women’s writing, in English, produced between 1350 and 1850. That database is intended to support a wide range of activities including new research on texts, information technology, and cultural history. In addition, there is:
on‐demand print publishing of any of the more than 200 texts in the database; and
traditional print publishing of selected works (currently through a 30‐volume series with Oxford University Press).
The home page for the Oxford University Press material is: http://www.oup‐usa.org/catalogs/gencat/series/Women_Writers_in_English_1350‐1850.html
The Project was initiated in 1986 by a group of scholars from four universities. Since that time it has grown markedly in scope. The Project’s current Advisory Board is drawn principally from a small number of U.S. universities. The 30‐member Research Board is drawn from a much broader range of academic institutions in the United States and England. Funding is provided by a small number of corporations, charitable foundations, universities, federal agencies and private donors.
The web site’s structure and design are simple and straightforward, with all information being clearly presented. None of the material seems out‐of‐date. There are not a lot of graphics so download time will not be a problem. Each of the major pages contains navigational links at the bottom of the page. However, the site is a small one; so navigation does not pose a problem .
The principal information or services available through the site are:
a complete listing of literary works available for purchase, including price, an online order system,
an online discussion group and newsletter, links to web sites for related projects, and
a summary of the history, structure, and management of the project
This is a simple, practical, and useful site of particular value to those with an academic interest in pre‐Victorian literature in English.
