Anne B. Poyntz

Anne B. Poyntz was an eighteenth-century English writer, thought to have been born between 1701 and 1750.[1] She is author of Je ne sçai quoi: or, A collection of letters, odes, &c., Never before published. By a Lady [Anne B. Poyntz], published in 1769.[2][3][4][5]

Je ne sçai quoi: or, A collection of letters, odes, &c., Never before published. By a Lady
Dedication page (1 of 4) of Je ne sçai quoi showing the red ink.

The introduction is printed in red ink and ends with "Parnassus Valley, April 1, 1768."[4][6] The decision to use red ink in the printing is addressed in the text, that she wanted it to be "particularly red", which is a play on words explored by Dr. Kristyn Leuner in her article on the digitization of the work.[7]

Poyntz stated that she told the publisher to list the work as being by "a woman", not "a lady". The work is viewed as feminist writing, with references to pretending to be subordinate to men and a "love of love".[6]

Poyntz's name is spelled without the "e", as Ann B. Poyntz, in A Catalogue of Rare Curious and Valuable Old Books on Sale from 1882.[8]

Je ne sçai quoi was reviewed by one male contemporary as being too risqué, with one of his complaints being that the quotations used by Poyntz "are by no means suitable to the idea of familiar letters."[9]

Other attributions

She is also one of the authors listed for the 1768 publication of A Word to the Wise: A Poetical Farce, Most Respectfully Addressed to the Critical Reviewers. By T. Underwood, ... With an Apology to the Ingenuity of Mr. Hugh Kelly, for the Title of the Piece, Volume 1.[10] The book was also published in 1770 solely under Thomas Underwood.[11][12]

She is also listed as being of Irish nationality in a 1912 catalog of Irish poets.[13]

References
  1. Blain, Virginia (1990). The Feminist companion to literature in English : women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. Internet Archive. New Haven : Yale University Press. p. 1211. ISBN 978-0-300-04854-4.
  2. Congress, The Library of. "Poyntz, Anne B. - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  3. "ESTC - Search Results". estc.bl.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  4. Poyntz, Anne B. (1769). Je Ne Sçai Quoi: Or, a Collection of Letters, Odes, &c. Never Before Published. By a Lady. Wilkie.
  5. Halkett, Samuel. Dictionary of anonymous and pseudonymous English literature. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 185. urn:oclc:record:1148830047.
  6. Blain, Virginia; Clements, Patricia; Grundy, Isobel (1990). The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 869. ISBN 978-0-300-04854-4. WorldCat record: 956663806. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
  7. Leuner, PhD, Kirstyn J. (2021-11-02). "Particularly Red, by a Woman: Anne B. Poyntz and the Printing and Digitization of Her Je ne sçai quoi". European Romantic Review. 32 (5–6): 601–618. doi:10.1080/10509585.2021.1989877. ISSN 1050-9585. S2CID 244348523.
  8. Smith, Alfred Russell (1882). A Catalogue of Rare Curious and Valuable Old Books on Sale by Alfred Russell Smith. A.R. Smith. p. 206.
  9. The Monthly Review 1769-02: Vol 40. Internet Archive. Open Court Publishing Co. February 1769. pp. 157–158.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Poyntz, Anne B.; S. (a surgeon in His Majesty's Sea-Service), C.; Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley; Hill, Philippina; Pointon, Priscilla; Partridge, Solomon; Underwood, Thomas (1768). A Word to the Wise: A Poetical Farce, Most Respectfully Addressed to the Critical Reviewers. By T. Underwood, ... With an Apology to the Ingenuity of Mr. Hugh Kelly, for the Title of the Piece · Volume 1. London: G. Scott.
  11. "ESTC - Search Results". estc.bl.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  12. Underwood, Thomas (1770). A Word to the Wise: A Poetical Farce, Most Respectfully Addressed to the Critical Reviewers. By T. Underwood, ... With an Apology to the Ingenuity of Mr. Hugh Kelly, for the Title of the Piece. G. Scott. And sold by T. Noteman; H. Gardner; G. Pearch; and J. Marks.
  13. O'Donoghue, D. J. (David James) (1912). The poets of Ireland; a biographical and bibliographical dictionary of Irish writers of English verse. Cornell University Library. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis & Co. pp. 15, 389.
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