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Introduction

Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855) was known primarily as the younger sister of William Wordsworth and the author of some journals (which were not, however, published during her lifetime) that shed considerable light on his poetry. Though she rarely thought of herself as an author, Dorothy’s daily chronicles – especially from her earlier years – are compelling documents in their own right, and there is now widespread recognition that she is one of the more remarkable (yet self-effacing) personalities in the history of English literature.

I am attempting to bring together on this website a bibliography of books, articles, and dissertations about Dorothy Wordsworth (including, whenever possible, summaries of their contents), as well as records of her own writings. The emphasis will be on published sources, but I will also occasionally describe manuscript material and websites.

I should add that my original intention was to link to the online catalogue of the British Library for most of the entries, but the BL has not yet fully recovered from the 2023 cyber attack; hence I decided it was more sensible under these circumstances to connect to the Library of Congress catalogue whenever possible, though I still hope to add the BL catalogue information in the future.

If you wish to suggest additional titles (but bear in mind that this is a work still in progress), please get in touch with me at the address below.

William S. Peterson (wsp@umd.edu)

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Alexander — Dorothy Wordsworth

Alexander, Meena. “Dorothy Wordsworth: The Grounds of Writing.” Women’s Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal 14.3 (1988): 195–210.

“After the vivid, almost miraculous years of the Alfoxden Journal (1798) and the Grasmere Journals (1800–1803) Dorothy Wordsworth settled into tasks of helping keep house for her brother and sister-in law’s growing family. Domestic duties sometimes accumulated. . . The daily round in the home she shares with her brother and his family deprives her of a chance to sit quietly, collect her thoughts and feel that at least a short while she possesses herself” (p. 195).

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Wilson — Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth (2008)

Wilson, Frances. The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth: A Life. London: Faber and Faber, 2008.

Abstract on jacket (American edition): “Described by the writer and opium addict Thomas De Quincey as ‘the very wildest . . . person I have ever known,’ Dorothy Wordsworth was neither the self-effacing spinster nor the sacrificial saint of common telling. A brilliant stylist in her own right, Dorothy was at the center of the Romantic movement of the early nineteenth century. She was her brother William Wordsworth’s inspiration, aide, and most valued reader, and a friend to Coleridge; both borrowed from her observations of the world for their own poems. ¶ In order to remain at her brother’s side, Dorothy sacrificed both marriage and comfort, jealously guarding their close-knit domesticity – one marked by a startling freedom from social convention. In the famed Grasmere Journals, Dorothy kept a record of this idyllic life together. The tale that unfolds through her brief, electric entries reveals an intense bond between brother and sister, culminating in Dorothy’s dramatic collapse on the day of William’s wedding to their childhood friend Mary Hutchinson. Dorothy lived out the rest of her years with her brother and Mary. The woman who strode the hills in all hours and all weathers would eventually retreat into the house for the last three decades of her life. ¶ In this biography, Frances Wilson reveals Dorothy in all her complexity. From the coiled tension of Dorothy’s journals, she unleashes the rich emotional life of a woman determined to live on her own terms, and honors her impact on the key figures of Romanticism.”

Contents: Introduction. Crossing the Threshold. — 1. For Richer or Poorer: Longing — 2. To Have and to Hold: Home — 3. In Sickness and in Health: Headaches — 4. To Forsake All Others: Incest — 5. To Honour and Obey: Nature — 6. For Better for Worse: Honeymoon — 7. Until Death Do Us Part — Note on the Publication History of the Grasmere Journal.

Reviews: Mark Bostridge, Independent, 9 March 2008. —Dwight Garner, “A Brother’s Keeper: The Other Wordsworth,” New York Times, 24 February 2009. [Web] — Marjorie Kehe, Christian Science Monitor, 16 April 2009, p. 17.
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Marks — ‘My dear, dear Sister’ (2004)

Marks, Clifford J. “‘My dear, dear Sister’: Sustaining the ‘I’ in ‘Tintern Abbey.’” CEA Critic 66.2–3 (Winter, 2004; Spring–Summer, 2004): 47–62.

“Dorothy, who represents friendship, community, and family, emerges as the most significant individual in ‘Tintern Abbey’” (p. 47).
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Wordsworth, Dorothy — George and Sarah Green (1936)

Wordsworth, Dorothy. George and Sarah Green: A Narrative by Dorothy Wordsworth. Ed. Ernest de Sélincourt. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1936.

An account of the Greens’ deaths in a snowstorm; William Wordsworth also wrote a poem on the subject.

Review: Edith J. Morley, Review of English Studies 14.53 (January 1938): 111–12.
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Robertson — Wordsworthshire (1911)

Robertson, Eric. Wordsworthshire: An Introduction to a Poet’s Country. London: Chatto & Windus, 1911. 

Frequent references to Dorothy Wordsworth throughout, but see especially Chap. xviii, “Dorothy Wordsworth’s Prose Poems.” “Dorothy Wordsworth somehow, from among modern writing women, has crept closest to our country’s heart” (p. 249).

Digital copy: Internet Archive.