In 1996, a graduate student working in a library in England discovered the manuscript of a novel and 120 poems by completely unknown 17th century woman writer. Hester Pulter had been hiding in plain sight for four centuries. Now a dedicated team of scholars is sharing her work with the world.
“Then being enfranchised, free as my verse,
I shall surround this spacious universe,
Until by other atoms thrust and hurled
We give a being to another world.”
Hear the story of this astonishing discovery, and the astonishing woman behind the words. Our guest is Dr. Samantha Snively of the Pulter Project.
Hester Pulter’s country estate
image in the public domain
Hester Pulter’s country estate
image in the public domain
Hester Pulter’s country estate
image in the public domain
Samantha Snively earned her PhD from the University of California, Davis, and currently works as a proposal writer for UC Davis’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations. Her dissertation focused on experimental knowledge-making in 17th-century England, particularly on the scientific work of female manuscript recipe collection authors and poets like Hester Pulter and Margaret Cavendish. She is the social media manager for The Pulter Project and has been a contributor for the site. Find her on twitter @snsnively where she’s always happy to talk about weird old recipes, lady scientists, or alternative academic careers.
Music featured in this episode included
“Canarios” by Gaspar Sanz
Episode 39 Hester Pulter
free download
for personal use only
“Mistress Nichols’ Almain”
Episode 39 Hester Pulter
free download
for personal use only
“Orfeo”
Episode 39 Hester Pulter
Selections from “Bach Cello Suite in G”
Episode 39 Hester Pulter
free download
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