Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1780, Published by Anne Steele (1717-1778) under the pseudonym ‘Theodosia’
New revised edition, Bristol
Anne Steele’s first poetry collection was published in London in 1760 under the pseudonym ‘Theodosia’; presented here is a revised edition of that work published posthumously 20 years later. The flyleaf of this book is inscribed ‘Martha Steele,’ having belonged to Anne’s niece. Anne belonged to the ‘Golden Age of Hymnody’ in the early 18th century, a period coinciding with the rise of evangelicalism, during which there was a flourishing of hymn-writing efforts among the Non-Conformist community in England. Many of the hymns written at this time influenced a later generation of hymn-writers, yet the hymns of few women of this period have survived the test of time like those of Anne Steele.