Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Isa Craig
-
Standard Name: Craig, Isa
Birth Name: Isa Craig
Married Name: Isa Knox
Self-constructed Name: Isa Craig-Knox
Pseudonym: Isa
Pseudonym: Mrs Knox
Pseudonym: The Author of Deepdale Vicarage
Pseudonym: The Author of Mark Warren
Isa Craig
was a poet, journalist, editor, and novelist whose literary work was informed by the concerns of the mid-Victorian feminist movement. Her verse appeared in several periodicals, including the feminist English Woman's Journal, on whose staff she served. As assistant secretary of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science
between 1857 and 1865, IC
compiled and edited that organization's annual Transactions. Much of her journalistic writing and fiction is didactic in tone, evincing a concern with the struggles and moral reform of working-class daily life.
She was not included, however, among contributors to Isa Craig
's anthology of Poems: An Offering to Lancashire, which was published about this time.
Yan, Shu-chuan. “’When Common Voices Speak’: Labour, Poetry and Eliza Cook”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
22
, No. 4, pp. 428-54.
437
Textual Production
Emily Faithfull
The Victoria Press published two other literary anthologies—one prefaced by Isa Craig
and intended to help relieve distress in the cotton districts—as well as two technically impressive works that bore illuminations and chromolithography.
Fredeman, William E. “Emily Faithfull and the Victoria Press: An Experiment in Sociological Bibliography”. The Library, Vol.
29
, No. 2, pp. 139-64.
156-8, 159
Textual Production
Adelaide Procter
Here AP
's wide literary connections paid off handsomely. Contributors to The Victoria Regia included some of the most prominent names in literature of the day, mingled with less prominent writers who were also feminists:...
Textual Features
Annie S. Swan
The indices to its bound volumes list both tales and serial tales without naming the authors—even though, as named on the pages where their work actually appears, they include such luminaries as Robert Buchanan
and...
Publishing
Christina Rossetti
In 1860 CR
produced a gothic short story, Case 2: Folio 2, about a man who produced no reflection in mirrors. Her brother William
remembered it as perhaps the best tale she ever wrote...
By 1859 The English Woman's Journal was felt to be no longer adequate on its own for promoting women's work, and Jessie Boucherett
suggested the creation of a society which would deal specifically with this...
Occupation
Ellen Wood
By now an established and successful writer, EW
became proprietor and editor (in succession to Isa Craig
) of The Argosy, a monthly periodical that showcased her work. She bought it from publisher Alexander Strahan
.
Montgomery, Katherine F. “Ladies who Launch: the <span data-tei-ns-tag="tei_title" data-tei-title-lvl=‘j’>Argosy</span> Magazine and Ellen Price Wood’s Perilous Voyages”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
21
, No. 4, pp. 523-39.
525
Occupation
John Stuart Mill
JSM
served as independent MP for Westminster from 1865 to 1868.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford University Press.
Mill, John Stuart, and John Jacob Coss. Autobiography. Columbia University Press.
vii
The Concise Dictionary of National Biography: From Earliest Times to 1985. Oxford University Press.
When the Leweses celebrated their move to The Priory and their son Charlie's promotion and twenty-first birthday with a party, Clementia Taylor
and one or two other women attended, but Bessie Rayner Parkes
did not...
Friends, Associates
Jessie Boucherett
Partly through her membership of the Kensington Society
(a social and political discussion group of about fifty women inaugurated in 1865), JB
broadened her acquaintance with significant members of the feminist movement, including Frances Power Cobbe
Friends, Associates
Sarah Tytler
ST
's career as a writer introduced her to many leading literary figures (especially those of Scots origin) whom she entertainingly describes in Three Generations.
Stone, James S. Emily Faithfull: Victorian Champion of Women’s Rights. P. D. Meany.
183, 16
Timeline
February 1856: The Waverley Journal: For the Cultivation...
Writing climate item
February 1856
The Waverley Journal: For the Cultivation of the Honourable, the Progressive and the Beautiful, began fortnightly publication, advertising itself as Edited and published by Ladies.
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press.
589
March 1858: The English Woman's Journal, a monthly magazine...
Women writers item
March 1858
The English Woman's Journal, a monthly magazine on the theory and practice of organised feminism, began publication in London, with financial support from Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
and others, under the editorship of...
Probably October 1858: The Ladies' National Association for the...
Late 1859: The offices of The English Woman's Journal...
Women writers item
Late 1859
The offices of The English Woman's Journal moved from Cavendish Square to 19 Langham Place, where a ladies' club was also planned.
1860: Maria Rye and Isa Craig established the Telegraph...
Building item
1860
Maria Rye
and Isa Craig
established the Telegraph School for Women
, to train women for work in telegraph offices where messages handed in and sent.
August 1864: The English Woman's Journal, a practical...
Building item
August 1864
The English Woman's Journal, a practical and theoretical source of organized feminism from London, merged into The Alexandra Magazine and English Woman's Journal.
23 May 1865: The Kensington Society, a quarterly women's...
Building item
23 May 1865
The Kensington Society
, a quarterly women's discussion group devoted to social and political issues, held its inaugural meeting in London.
December 1865: Alexander Strahan launched The Argosy, a...
Writing climate item
December 1865
Alexander Strahan
launched The Argosy, a monthly literary and travel magazine, with Isa Craig
as its first editor, and Charles Reade
's Griffith Gaunt as its lead serial.
Texts
Craig, Isa. Deepdale Vicarage. Cassell, Petter and Galpin, 1876.
Craig, Isa. Duchess Agnes. Alexander Strahan, 1864.
Craig, Isa. “Emigration as a Preventive Agency”. English Woman’s Journal, Vol.
2
, No. 11, pp. 289-97.
Craig, Isa. Esther West. Cassell, Petter and Galpin, 1870.
Craig, Isa. Hold Fast By Your Sundays. Home Words, 1882.
Craig, Isa. Hold Fast By Your Sundays. Home Words, 1889.
Craig, Isa. “Infant Seamstresses”. English Woman’s Journal, Vol.
4
, pp. 25-34.
Craig, Isa. Poems. W. Blackwood, 1856.
Craig, Isa, editor. Poems: An Offering to Lancashire. Emily Faithfull, Victoria Press, 1863.
Craig, Isa. Songs of Consolation. Macmillan, 1874.
Craig, Isa et al., editors. The Argosy. R. Bentley and Son.
Kemble, Fanny. The Essence of Slavery. Editor Craig, Isa, Emily Faithfull, 1863.
Craig, Isa, and R. E. Galindo. The Little Folks’ History of England. Cassell, Petter and Galpin, 1872.
Craig, Isa, and R. E. Galindo. The Little Folks’ History of England. Cassell, 1885.
Craig, Isa, editor. Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science. John W. Parker.