Aemilia Lanyer is a hugely important figure in the history of women's poetry, and her publication of Salve Deus is one of the landmarks of textual culture in 1611. Salve Deus offers, among many other things, an alternative vision of the virtuous nature and characteristics of women. What is unique about Lanyer's contribution to the textual culture of 1611 is her determination to ‘unlock’ the hidden identity of the female poetic voice in print publication. The survival of a hundred letters written by Arbella Stuart between 1588 and 1611 is not only a remarkable phenomenon in its own right but hints significantly at the otherwise lost wealth of social and personal writing in manuscript by women from this period. In addition to these invaluable caches of letters, there were several other elements of manuscript culture to which women contributed in 1611.