Home > What's on > Hidden philosophies: women's publishing in 18th-century Britain

Hidden philosophies: women's publishing in 18th-century Britain

Date
28 July 2022, 6:30pm7:30pm
CostFree
Bookings Bookings required
Location State Library Victoria Theatrette
via Entry 3, La Trobe Street

To watch the 2022 Foxcroft Lecture, click play on the video above at 6.30pm on Thursday 28 July. 

Join us as we cast light on little known publications by British women writers of the 18th century. 

Mary Astell, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, Catharine Macaulay – these names may not be as familiar to us as late 18th and early 19th century writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft or Jane Austen, but they were equal in their literary, political and philosophical aspirations.

This year’s Foxcroft Lecture will showcase the remarkable work of these 18th century women; debunking the assumption that, constrained by social circumstances, women of this time published little of note.

Building on her extensive research, Karen Green will reveal how, while Mary Wortley Montagu, Mary Delariviere Manley, Sarah Fielding, and Sarah Scott, published anonymously, fearing social censure, a later generation published under their own names, and were celebrated as literary geniuses, paving the way for the women writers we remember.

State Library Victoria Cultural, Family & Student members get early access to our upcoming events. To get your tickets ahead of the crowd, become a member today.

Please note: this event will be live-streamed.

About Karen Green

Karen Green is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and author of A history of women’s political thought in Europe, 1700-1800, A history of women’s political thought in Europe, 1400-1700, with Jacqueline Broad, Catharine Macaulay’s republican enlightenment and Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan’s Ditié.

About the Foxcroft Lecture 

The annual Foxcroft Lecture honours the pioneering bibliographer Albert Broadbent Foxcroft, who began working at State Library Victoria in 1902 at the age of 17 until his untimely death in 1938. He left an enduring legacy of scholarship and was highly regarded and influential in developing the Library's rare books collection. 

About the Women Writers Fund 

The Women Writers Fund is a pioneering new fund that seeks to redress the historical gender bias in State Library Victoria’s collection by acquiring works by under-represented 19th and 20th century women writers. 

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