Voice of a Virtuosa and Courtesan

Poetry: Bilingual Edition

Feminist, courtesan, playwright and a renowned virtuosa (soloist vocal performer) called to sing before Roman nobility and the courts of Florence and Paris, Margherita Costa is, moreover, the most Baroque of the Italian women poets of the seventeenth century. A prolific writer, she published six volumes of poetry, two prose works, three plays, two narrative poems, and a pageant in verse for knights on horseback. As a poet, she employs a variety of genres, using humor and irony to criticize prevailing attitudes towards women and to mock the politics of her times. Many poems reveal autobiographical references as she voices her personal struggles and her experiences as a woman of numerous roles that also include those of wife, mother, widow, and, above all, writer attempting to achieve recognition and respect for her literary endeavors.
This anthology offers the first English translation from Margherita's extensive oeuvre and represents the first modern publication in Italian of a selection from seven of her books of verse, which have not seen print since their original editions in the 1600s. The volume includes a biographical and critical introduction, a comprehensive bibliography, and notes in both Italian and English.