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Woman not inferior to man, or, A short and modest vindication of the natural right of the fair-sex to a perfect equality of power, dignity, and esteem with the men
An unidentified philosopher writing under the pseudonym “Sophia” wrote this radical work asserting that women are superior to men in all ways. She argues that women’s superiority could be proven if women were given equal education. This is a first edition. The 1745 edition (also in the collection) includes a counterargument and rebuttal. Both might have been written by “Sophia.” -
Les femmes illustres, ou, Les harangues heroïques
French philosopher Madeleine de Scudéry was a prolific writer. Her novels and books were published under her brother’s name. She embraced philosophical dialogue as a means to explore questions of gender, sexuality, education, and power. Scudéry was dismissed by her male contemporaries, and later critics focused on her salons rather than her philosophical contributions. Her life, work, and diatribes defending women’s right to exercise political authority are receiving new consideration by modern scholars. The strong image on this engraved title page certainly reflects her response to the querelle des femmes. -
Haec homo: wherein the excellency of the creation of woman is described, by way of an essay
English barrister William Austin advocated for legal and public liberties for women. The woodcuts shown here reference Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man, an image that defined ideal human proportions. Here Austin replaces the figure with the female body. Though diminutive, the images are monumental in spirit. Austin dedicated the book to Mary Griffith. It was published posthumously by his widow Anne. -
The lavves resolutions of womens rights, or, The lavves prouision for woemen: a methodicall collection of such statutes and customes, with the cases, opinions, arguments and points of learning in the lavv, as doe properly concerne women: together with a compendious table, whereby the chiefe matters in this booke contained, may be the more readily found
The Lavves Resolutions of Womens Rights was the first work devoted to the laws and rights of women in English law. The unidentified author reasoned that as women were subject to laws they should have access to information about them. The text is largely about property, inheritance, dowry, and the rights assumed or lost when a woman enters into marriage, is widowed, or divorces. Rape and wife beating are considered within the codification of the law. The work lacks practical details, refers to obscure case law, and uses technical terminology, making it more helpful to lawyers than to women themselves. -
Alphabet de l'imperfection et malice des femmes: reueu, corrigé, & augmenté d'vn friant Dessert, & de plusieurs histoires en cette cinquiesme edition pour les courtizans & partisans de la femme Mondaine
Olivier’s Alphabet of the Imperfection and Malice of Women, part of the querelle des femmes, provoked numerous responses and touched off a querelle des alphabets. -
La nobiltà et l'eccellenza delle donne, co' diffetti et mancamenti de gli huomini
Venetian intellectual and philosopher Lucrezia Marinella wrote a bold response to Giuseppe Passi’s misogynist Defects of Women (1599). Arguing that women’s moral superiority leads to their intellectual superiority, she demanded freedom, power, and equality for women. In this expanded edition, she traces misogyny in intellectual traditions back to Aristotle and attributes the motives of misogynist writers to a desire to exclude women from public life. -
De la bonté et mauuaistié des femmes
In this text, French humanist Marconville compiles examples from the past and present of the virtues and vices of women. Ultimately, he suspends judgement on whether women have an inborn predisposition to these various virtues and vices. -
Le fort inexpugnable de l’honneur du sexe femenin
From the late Middle Ages until the Enlightenment, a fierce debate raged in Europe about the nature of women. At its core, this querelle des femmes concerned the capacity of women to extend beyond what was seen as their traditional domain and to participate in such fields as higher education or in the public sphere. Billon’s work, which falls squarely in this debate, was the most passionate defense of women’s equality of its era. In it, he constructs an allegorical fort in defense of women, depicting misogynists as invaders seeking to storm the castle walls. The six parts of the fort—its moat, tower, and four bastions—each represent a different female quality, and each one is populated with women of note who embody that attribute. The volume is illustrated with bold woodcuts depicting the fort, and also Athena addressing an audience made up entirely of women.
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