about her abilities with money matters. As she confided to Southey: ‘I wish there were literary agents to sell for one upon commission. I shall never manage these affairs well, however important to my finances’ (August 1828: Dowden, p. 142). This in connection with negotiations with Alaric Watts and his wife over her contribution solicited for their annuals. Clearly her gentlewoman status is a hindrance rather than a help: ‘He proposes payment, but in such a round-about way, that I cannot tell what to answer, for I cannot value my goods’ (ibid.). This was not always the case. A few years earlier, a miscellany of her verse and prose pieces from ‘M aga’, which was published anonymously in 1826 under the title Solitary Hours, had undergone some strenuous pre-publication negotiations. On 28 April 1825, Bowles wrote with a very conscious exploitation of what I term the ‘discourse of amateur­ ism’: T am afraid you will note me down, in the black book (which I dare say you keep) of obstinate, conceited authors, when I avow myself disinclined to adopt all your suggestions relative to my pro­ posed publication -’. She then agrees to drop one piece, but wants to retain two others:

DOI link for about her abilities with money matters. As she confided to Southey: ‘I wish there were literary agents to sell for one upon commission. I shall never manage these affairs well, however important to my finances’ (August 1828: Dowden, p. 142). This in connection with negotiations with Alaric Watts and his wife over her contribution solicited for their annuals. Clearly her gentlewoman status is a hindrance rather than a help: ‘He proposes payment, but in such a round-about way, that I cannot tell what to answer, for I cannot value my goods’ (ibid.). This was not always the case. A few years earlier, a miscellany of her verse and prose pieces from ‘M aga’, which was published anonymously in 1826 under the title Solitary Hours, had undergone some strenuous pre-publication negotiations. On 28 April 1825, Bowles wrote with a very conscious exploitation of what I term the ‘discourse of amateur­ ism’: T am afraid you will note me down, in the black book (which I dare say you keep) of obstinate, conceited authors, when I avow myself disinclined to adopt all your suggestions relative to my pro­ posed publication -’. She then agrees to drop one piece, but wants to retain two others:

about her abilities with money matters. As she confided to Southey: ‘I wish there were literary agents to sell for one upon commission. I shall never manage these affairs well, however important to my finances’ (August 1828: Dowden, p. 142). This in connection with negotiations with Alaric Watts and his wife over her contribution solicited for their annuals. Clearly her gentlewoman status is a hindrance rather than a help: ‘He proposes payment, but in such a round-about way, that I cannot tell what to answer, for I cannot value my goods’ (ibid.). This was not always the case. A few years earlier, a miscellany of her verse and prose pieces from ‘M aga’, which was published anonymously in 1826 under the title Solitary Hours, had undergone some strenuous pre-publication negotiations. On 28 April 1825, Bowles wrote with a very conscious exploitation of what I term the ‘discourse of amateur­ ism’: T am afraid you will note me down, in the black book (which I dare say you keep) of obstinate, conceited authors, when I avow myself disinclined to adopt all your suggestions relative to my pro­ posed publication -’. She then agrees to drop one piece, but wants to retain two others: