num_pages: 257
description: 1ST EDITION, Hardcover in dust jacket, 1996, by Laura J. Rosenthal, Cornell University Press, "Passage of the first copyright law in 1710 marked a radical change in the perception of authorship. According to Laura J. Rosenthal, the new construction of the author as the owner of literary property bore different consequences for women than for men, for amateurs than for professionals, and for playwrights than for other authors. Rosenthal explores the distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate forms of literary appropriation in drama from 1650 to 1730. In considering the alleged plagiarists Margaret Cavendish (the duchess of Newcastle), Aphra Benn, John Dryden, Colley Ci and Susanna Centlivre, Rosenthal maintains that accusations had less to do with the degree of repitition than with the gender of the authors and the cultural location of the plays."
language: English
title: Playwrights and Plagiarists in Early Modern England: Gender, Authorship, Literary Property
titlecomplete: Playwrights and Plagiarists in Early Modern England: Gender, Authorship, Literary Property
ratings_count: 2
publisher: NCROL