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April 2023 Vol. 60 No. 8

Written for nonspecialists, this readable and informative book places Christine de Pizan (c.1364–c.1431) in four wide contexts in as many chapters. The first chapter, “A Visit to Christine de Pizan’s Paris,” provides a compact overview of the late medieval city based on the most authoritative sources available. The second chapter situates Christine’s prolific writings in the context of manuscript production some three generations before printing reached Paris. The third highlights four Christinian works—City of Ladies, Romance of the Rose, Tale of the Rose, and God of Love’s Letter—against the backdrop of medieval misogyny. The last and most original chapter surveys Christine’s presence in contemporary culture: works of visual art from several countries, video games in which she is transformed into a sorceress, Instagram, and her recent elevation to canonical status in the French agrégation. Cooper-Davis (Univ. of Oxford, UK) adopts a decidedly moderate stance in resuming Christine’s “pro-feminine” ideas. This analysis is enhanced by some two-dozen well-chosen images, almost all in color, 12 pages of notes, a select bibliography, and a chronology of events in France from 1337 to 1453.

--C. M. Reno, emerita, Vassar College

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.