The first sustained scholarly study of The Female Spectator, brings together an impressive collection of established and upcoming Haywood scholars who challenge much of the received opinion about this ground - breaking journal. Several of the essays show that Haywood's periodical was far more political than is generally thought, that its connections to her career as a novelist are more intimate than has been recognized, and that The Spectator was a target as well as a model. Other essays examine its position in a developing print tradition. There is much new in these pages, and this collection makes a convincing argument that Haywood's periodical deserves far more critical attention that it has received so far.