What is it?

As philosophers have started becoming interested in the works of women philosophers, slowly modern editions of works of some women have begun appearing in print. We've been helped by the interest in women's philosophical writings by literary scholars of the period. But there are many women whose works remain largely unexplored, in part because of the inaccessibility of the works. 

This open-source bibliography aims to pool our collective knowledge, about who wrote what, when, and where and how to find it now. The bibliography is currently focused on women philosophers of the early modern period in the European tradition, but we will soon  be expanding to include women authors from other historical periods and traditions. We welcome suggestions for authors to include! 

We also can work with you to develop bibliographical data about the neglected authors that most interest you.

The Bibliographic Database can be found here.  Documentation and instructions are provided, but feel free to begin exploring. Please send us feedback.

The benefits of the Digital Bibliography include:

Record Keeping

This bibliography makes it a straightforward matter to begin research projects on early modern women philosophers. Through the bibliography, both researchers and their students can find names of published authors whose works have long been neglected, their works, and a start at how to access those works.

Digitization

This bibliography tracks the preparation of modern and digital editions, with particular attention to the form and location of digital editions. With the rediscovery of women philosophers and their works, scholars have been invested in making long out-of-print works more accessible. In some cases, modern scholarly editions have been published. In other cases, digital editions have been prepared. But there is still lots more work to do. We want to ensure resources are used wisely and work is not duplicated.

Another part of the project is to digitize works by women, and house them in a digital collection.

Tracking Influence

This bibliography tracks details that can have big impact in tracing lines of influence. The bibliography records each edition of a work, and has room for notes about important differences in the editions. Multiple printings suggest that a work was widely read over the period of the printing of the editions. The bibliography also records whether a particular edition was translated, and into which languages. Translation into other languages implies a broad impact. The bibliography also can track individuals to whom works are dedicated and who wrote prefaces. These details can help to identify nodes of research networks, and so to more easily find other neglected authors of the period. 

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Header image: Portrait of Mary Astell by Joshua Reynolds