Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

‘I had rather die in the adventure of noble achievements, than live in obscure and sluggish security’

In 1666, Margaret Cavendish had a vision: there was a crack in reality at the North Pole leading to a utopian parallel universe, where gender roles, scientific orthodoxy and political norms had been razed to the ground. She slipped through the portal and returned with the first science fiction novel in English – an explosive account of the Blazing World.

The Convent of Pleasure (1868) is a closet drama by Margaret Cavendish. Intended for private performance rather than the stage, The Convent of Pleasure is a comedy that critiques the institution of marriage and explores the possibility of lesbian desire in a patriarchal society. Published under the author's own name-a rare feat for a woman of her time-The Convent of Pleasure is a groundbreaking work of queer utopian literature that continues to inform and inspire artists and critics alike. "Put the case I should Marry the best of Men, if any best there be; yet would a Marry'd life have more crosses and sorrows then pleasure, freedom, or hapiness: nay Marriage to those that are virtuous is a greater restraint then a Monastery." Tired of the ways of men, Lady Happy encourages her friends to join an experimental cloister devoted to feminine autonomy, friendship, and desire. Despite opposition from angry Monsieurs and the skeptical Madam Mediator, the woman forge a tight-knit group and seem prepared to defy the institution of marriage while pursuing romantic relationships with their fellow women. Before long, a mysterious Princess seeks entry to the convent. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

When a young woman is shipwrecked in the kingdom of the Blazing World, she befriends the natives, a highly intelligent and tolerant group of humanoid animals. With the help of the locals, the woman becomes the Empress of the island, and leads the Blazing World into a society of peace, equality, and understanding. Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World explores hot-button topics and themes, bringing a perspective that is still fresh modern-day. With imaginative and gripping prose, Cavendish advocates for philosophy over the material world, becoming a pioneer and strong advocate for peace, animals' rights, feminism, and equality. Her work is considered innovative not only for the exploration of these topics, but also for the invention of a genre. This edition of The Blazing World is printed in a modern font and redesigned with a striking new cover, bringing Cavendish's trailblazing literature into the 21st century.

When a young woman is shipwrecked in the kingdom of the Blazing World, she befriends the natives, a highly intelligent and tolerant group of humanoid animals. With the help of the locals, the woman becomes the Empress of the island, and leads the Blazing World into a society of peace, equality, and understanding. Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World explores hot-button topics and themes, bringing a perspective that is still fresh modern-day. With imaginative and gripping prose, Cavendish advocates for philosophy over the material world, becoming a pioneer and strong advocate for peace, animals' rights, feminism, and equality. Her work is considered innovative not only for the exploration of these topics, but also for the invention of a genre. This edition of The Blazing World is printed in a modern font and redesigned with a striking new cover, bringing Cavendish's trailblazing literature into the 21st century.

Margaret Cavendish was one of the most subversive and entertaining writers of the seventeenth century. She invented new genres, challenged gender roles, and critiqued the new science as well as the mores of society. "Paper Bodies" was the wonderful phrase she used to described her manuscripts, which she hoped would continue to make "a great Blazing Light" after her death. There are connections here to Cavendish's most famous work, The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World (1666), a unique tale of a woman travelling through the north pole to a strange new world. In addition to The Blazing World, this volume includes Cavendish's brief autobiography, A True Relation of My Birth, Breeding and Life (1667), her play The Convent of Pleasure, and selections from her Sociable Letters, her poetry, and her critical writings. A variety of background documents by other seventeenth-century writers helps to set her work in context for the modern reader.

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), until recently remembered more as a flamboyant eccentric than as a serious writer, was in fact the most prolific, thought-provoking, and original woman writer of the Restoration. Cavendish is the author of many poems, short stories, biographies, memoirs, letters, philosophical and scientific works (including "The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing World, " the first work of science fiction by a woman), and nineteen plays.

""The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays" collects four of Cavendish's dramatic works that are among the most revealing of her attitudes toward marriage and her desire for fame. "Loves Adventures" (1662) centers on a woman succeeding in war and diplomacy by passing as a man. Similarly, the heroine of "Bell in Campo" (1662) rescues her husband at the head of an army of women in this tale of a marriage of near equals. "The Convent of Pleasure" (1668) proposes a separatist community of women and has received attention for its suggestion of lesbian sexuality. "The Bridals" (1662), a more typical restoration comedy satirizing marriage, rounds out the collection.

Edited with notes and annotation by Anne Shaver, ""The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays" also contains a timeline, biography and bibliography of the Duchess, an appreciation of Cavendish's life and work, and a bibliography of critical essays. Also included are all of Cavendish's epistles "To the Reader" as well as "Other Preliminary Matter from Playes" (1662), and Cavendish's original preface to "Plays Never Before Printed" (1668). A valuable collection from an extraordinary writer, ""The Convent of Pleasure" and Other Plays" raises important issues about women and gender.

Written during the English Civil War and Interregnum when the public theatres were closed and Margaret Cavendish was living away from England in exile, Bell in Campo and The Sociable Companions are scathing satires that speak to the role of women's agency amidst this cultural tumult. In Bell in Campo, a group of virtuous women follow their husbands to war and, refusing to remain docilely out of harm's way, form an army of their own. The Sociable Companions details the struggles of four women from impoverished Royalist families trying to survive in a rapacious marriage market at the war's end. This Broadview Edition presents these two complementary plays together, along with supplementary materials on Cavendish's life, the participation of women in the combat of the English Civil War, the conduct of the Royalist military forces, and seventeenth-century social and marriage conventions.

The Blazing World is one of the most fascinating, unusual and astonishing pieces of literature in the English language. Written in 1666 by Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, the story follows a young woman who is transported to a world of animal-people, becomes their empress, and eventually leads an invasion back into her own world, complete with bird-man bombardiers and submarine ships. The tale involves spirit possession, astral projection, the many-worlds theory, and an interdimensional otherworldly queer romance that is centuries ahead of its time. Featuring numerous full-page and spot illustrations, and housed in an elaborately die-cut and embossed slipcase, this is an heirloom edition designed to be a work of art in its own right. With an introduction by Brooke Bolander. 9x12", 138 pages.

"Margaret Cavendish (1623--1673) is a fascinating figure who is getting increasing attention by historians of philosophy these days, and for good reason. . . . She's an interesting advocate of a vitalist tradition emphasizing the inherent activity of matter, as well as its inherent perceptive faculties. She's also the perfect character to open students (and their teachers) up to a different seventeenth century, and a different cast of philosophical characters. This is an ideal book to use in the classroom . The Philosophical Letters (1664) gives us Cavendish's view of what was interesting and important in the philosophical world at that moment, a view of philosophy as it was at the time by an engaged participant. There are few documents like it in the history of philosophy . Deborah Boyle's Introduction provides a very accessible summary of Cavendish's natural philosophy, as well as good introductions to the other figures that Cavendish discusses in the book. Boyle's annotations are not extensive, but they are a great help in guiding the student toward an informed reading of the texts." -Daniel Garber, Princeton University

Margaret Cavendish's Observations upon Experimental Philosophy holds a unique position in early modern philosophy. Cavendish rejects the picture of nature as a grand machine that was propounded by Hobbes and Descartes; she also rejects the alternative views of nature that make reference to immaterial spirits. Instead she develops an original system of organicist materialism, and draws on the doctrines of ancient Stoicism to attack the tenets of seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy. Her treatise is a document of major importance in the history of women's contributions to philosophy and science.

Flamboyant, theatrical, exuding ambiguous sexuality, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, was one of the seventeeth century's most striking figures, experimental in her personality as much as in her prolific writings. Both 'The Contract' and 'Assaulted and Pursued Chastity' (from Nature's Pictures, 1656) are romances which play out the empowering possibilities of disguise or masking for women. The centrepiece of this collection is The Blazing World, the only known Utopian fiction by a seventeenth century woman writer, an inventive and extravagant portrayal of the rise of a woman to absolute power.

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673) is unique among women writers of the seventeenth century in the scale of her output and in her aspiration to create a philosophical system. This edition presents Cavendish as a political author, and Susan James includes two major texts, the Orations and The Blazing World, accompanied by the standard series features that enables students to gain a better understanding of one of the truly distinctive political voices of the early modern period.

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673) is unique among women writers of the seventeenth century in the scale of her output and in her aspiration to create a philosophical system. This edition presents Cavendish as a political author, and Susan James includes two major texts, the Orations and The Blazing World, accompanied by the standard series features that enables students to gain a better understanding of one of the truly distinctive political voices of the early modern period.