"This excellent edition of Aikin's first poem, delineating beliefs to which she subscribed her whole life, firmly situates her work between Mary Wollstonecraft's 'equality feminism' and Anna Letitia Barbauld's essentialism. The edition is a must-have for courses in nineteenth-century literature as well as in feminism." – Laura Mandell, Miami University of Ohio
"Lucy Aikin is becoming increasingly recognised as a key figure in religious Dissent and women's writing of the Romantic period, and the meticulous scholarship of Anne K. Mellor and Michelle Levy makes her work readily accessible for the first time. They provide a superb introduction to Aikin's broader context and biography; their full annotations and contemporary material will make this book a useful teaching resource. This is also, however, an important piece of research and recovery: a splendid edition that helps us to understand the scope of Aikin's achievements as poet, historian, biographer, children's author, and critic." – Felicity James, University of Leicester
