The selection of images on these pages creates a pictorial representation of the lives of our subjects, illustrating how they dressed, and how, where and when they lived. The selected images also draw connections between these early modern women philosophers and their male counterparts; many of them hint at the intellectual foment of this period.
Unless otherwise noted, the images below are in the public domain. You can find more detailed information regarding our image sourcing methodology and permissions process on the Methods page.
d’Aragona
Astell
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies Part I, 1694 London
Charity statue (boy) from Bishopsgate Ward
Charity statue (girl) from Bishopsgate Ward
First page of Astell section in Ballard's Memoirs
Frances Coningsby (née Jones), Lady Coningsby; Lady Catherine Jones
Frontispiece from Jacques du Bosc's The Excellent Woman
Map of Chelsea surveyed in the year 1664 continued to 1717
Portrait of Archbishop William Sancroft
Daniel Defoe by Michael Vandergucht, after Jeremiah Taverner
Portrait of Elizabeth Elstob
Portrait of Elizabeth Thomas by Giles King
Portrait of Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin
Portrait of Lady Anne Somerset, Viscountness Deerhurst, Later Countess of Coventry
Kneller, Godfrey; Lady Anne Somerset (1673-1763), Viscountness Deerhurst, Later Countess of Coventry (?); National Trust, Antony; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/lady-anne-somerset-16731763-viscountness-deerhurst-later-countess-of-coventry-99061
Portrait of Lady Mary Somerset, Duchess of Ormond, by Michael Dahl
Oil painting on canvas, Lady Mary Somerset, Duchess of Ormonde (1665-1733) by Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1656/9 ¿ London 1743), 1690s. Three-quarter-length portrait, of a young woman, seated, full front, her head three-quarters left. She is wearing a deep brown-gold dress, blue lined and is holding a rose in her right hand. A bottle green curtain is to the right and an arcade in the left background.
Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Hastings
Portrait of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)
Portrait of Sir Hans Sloane
Some Reflections Upon Marriage (title page)
The Ladies Library frontispiece
Letters Concerning the Love of God, 1695 London
The Christian Religion, 1705 London
17th Century Map of London
17th century map of London, originally started by W.Hollar, student of German engraver Mattheus Merian. Published in the Netherlands. Judging by the double portrait at the top, the map was published after the accession to the English throne by William III and Mary Stuart. The map was composed by the famous designer and engraver from Prague Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677). He adopted, and excelled in, a style best suited to chorography or delineation of cities. He received instructions from Mattheus Merian (1593-1650) in Frankfurt and was active in several European towns. From 1652 until his death Hollar lived and worked in London
Cavendish
Boyle's air pump, New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, 1660 Oxford
Boyle, Robert, 1660. New experiments physico-mechanicall: touching the spring of the air, and its effects (made, for the most part, in a new pneumatical engine) / written by way of letter to the right honorable Charles Lord Vicount of Dungarvan, eldest son to the Earl of Corke. Oxford: H. Hall, printer to the University, for T. Robinson.
Cavendish family circle by Peeter Clouwet, 1656
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and his family in Antwerp by Peeter Clouwet, after Abraham Diepenbeeck
Line engraving, published 1656
10 5/8 in. x 6 1/2 in. (270 mm x 165 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D28777
Cavendish's "Of Aire" poem, 1653 London
Source of poem: Cavendish, Margaret. 1653. Poems, and fancies written by the Right Honourable, the Lady Margaret Newcastle. London: Printed by T.R. for J. Martin, and J. Allestrye, 1653.
Source library: The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, USA.
Cavendish's crypt in Westminster Abbey
Cavendish's signature, collage, 2016
Descartes's Principia Philosophiae, Amsterdam 1644
Flea schema from Micrographia, 1665 London
Hooke, Robert. 1665.
Micrographia: or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon / by R. Hooke ... London: Printed by J. Martyn and J. Allestry.
Schema 34 - "Of flea."
Record link:
http://othmerlib.chemheritage.org/record=b1045122~S3
Grounds of Natural Philosophy, London 1668
Cavendish, Margaret. 1668.
Grounds of natural philosophy : divided into thirteen parts: with an appendix containing five parts / written by the thrice noble, illustrious, and excellent princess, the Duchess of Newcastle. London: A. Maxwell, 1668.
Source library: The Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library of Chemical History, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, USA.
Record link:
http://othmerlib.chemheritage.org/record=b1034754~S6
Henry More by William Faithorne, 1675
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Henry More by William Faithorne.
Etching and line engraving, published 1675.
12 1/8 in. x 7 1/8 in. (309 mm x 181 mm) paper size.
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931.
Reference Collection.
NPG D22866
John Evelyn by Robert Walker, 1648
National Portrait Gallery, London
John Evelyn by Robert Walker
oil on canvas, 1648
34 5/8 in. x 25 1/4 in. (879 mm x 641 mm)
Purchased with help from the Art Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Dame Helen Gardner Bequest, 1992
Primary Collection
NPG 6179
Joseph Glanvill by William Faithorne, 1681
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Joseph Glanvill (Glanville) by William Faithorne
line engraving, published 1681
7 7/16 in. x 5 3/8 in. (189 mm x 136 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D22746
Kenelm Digby by Sir Anthony van Dyck, c. 1640
National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Kenelm Digby by Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1640
46 1/8 in. x 36 1/8 in. (1172 mm x 917 mm)
Purchased, 1877
Primary Collection
NPG 486
Margaret and William Cavendish, by Gonzales Coques, 1662
See Cavendish section 1.2, Portraits, for more information.
Margaret Cavendish by Pieter Louis van Schuppen, c. 1655-1658
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Margaret Cavendish (née Lucas), Duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne by Pieter Louis van Schuppen, after Abraham Diepenbeeck
Line engraving, circa 1655-1658
14 5/8 in. x 8 3/4 in. (371 mm x 222 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D11111
See Cavendish section 1.2, Portraits, for more information.
Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, 1641 Paris
Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy & The Blazing World, 1668 London, 2nd ed.
Philosophical Letters, 1664 London
Queen Henrietta Maria by unknown artist, c. 1635
René Descartes by Frans Hals, c. 1649
René Descartes by unknown artist, 17th c.
Robert Boyle after Johann Kerseboom, c. 1689-1690
Thomas Hobbes by John Michael Wright, c. 1669-1670
Conway
Henry More by William Faithorne, 1675
National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Henry More by William Faithorne.
Etching and line engraving, published 1675.
12 1/8 in. x 7 1/8 in. (309 mm x 181 mm) paper size.
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931.
Reference Collection.
NPG D22866
An Antidote Against Atheisme, 1653 London
Francis Mercury Van Helmont, from Ortus Medicinae, 1648 Amsterdam
Francis Mercury Van Helmont from Alphabet of Nature, 1657 Obersälzen
Kabbala Denudata, 1677 Sulzbach
Ragley Hall, from Britannia Illustrata, 1720 London
Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy, 1664 Oxford
William Penn, by John Hall, 1773
Valentine Greatrakes by William Faithorne, 1666
Conway's Principia Philosophiae, 1690 Amsterdam
Francis Mercury Van Helmont, by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1670-1
Church at Arrow, exterior view
The parish church at Arrow.
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Two Hundred Queries
Title page of Van Helmont's Two Hundred Queries, 1684
Anne Conway by Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1662-1667
Du Châtelet
Bilder-Sal Hautiges Tages Lebender, 1745 Augsburg
Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu, 1744 Paris
Du Châtelet - portrait from Wikipedia
Du Châtelet after Maurice Quentin de la Tour, from Château Breteuil
Du Châtelet's Discours sur le Bonheur, 1779
Institutions Physiques, 1742 Amsterdam
Istituto delle Scienze Bologna, 1791
Naturlehre an Ihren Sohn, 1743 Leipzig
Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle, 1756 Paris
Response to de Mairan, 1741 Brussels
Review of Voltaire's Elémens, 1738 Paris
The Cirey "académie"
Vue du château de Cirey suivant comme il doit être quand il sera fini 1742 huile sur panneau de bois,
Voltaire by Jean Daullé, c. 1740-1763
Voltaire by John Kay, 1789
Frontispiece to Voltaire's Elémens de la Philosophie de Neuton
The frontispiece to Voltaire's Elémens de la Philosophie de Neuton (published in Amsterdam in 1738) depicts Du Châtelet holding a mirror to reflect the light from Newton down to the author Voltaire, thus contributing to her reputation as an expositor of Newton rather than as a philosophe. This image was not included in other editions published this same year.
Encyclopédie, Vol. 11, 1765 Neûchatel
algarotti_newtonianismo_1737_venice_fp_rubenstein
Institutions de Physique, 1740 Paris
Burial site for Emilie du Châtelet
Design for a never-realized statue of Du Châtelet, drawn by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin in 1770.
Portrait statue of Voltaire commissioned by a group of philosophes in 1770.
Print by Pierre Gabriel Langlois the Elder after the painting of Du Châtelet by Marianne Loir.
Frontispiece to Du Châtelet's Institutions de physique (1740).
Princess Elisabeth
Portrait of Elisabeth as Diana by Gerard van Honthorst
The gardens of Heidelberg Castle painted around 1620 by Jacques Fouquières
Descartes publishes Discours de la Methode
Self-portrait Anna Maria van Schurman
Hall of Knights in the Binnenhof
Descartes publishes Les_Passions de l'âme
Descartes publishes Principia philosophiae
The Lutheran Convent of Herford, Germany
Self-potrait of Anna Maria van Schurman (1640)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Statue of Elisabeth, Herford Abbey
William Penn portrait, by Francis Place, undated
Description: Pastel portrait of William Penn by Francis Place, believed to be the only surviving portrait of Penn, drawn from life.
Citation: T
Letter to Descartes from Elisabeth
Letters between Princess Elisabeth and Descartes
The French philosopher Alexandre Foucher de Careil publishes Descartes, la Princesse Elisabeth, et la Reine Christine, d’après des lettres inédites, which contains the previously missing letters from Elisabeth to Descartes. The letters were discovered in an archive near Arnheim, the Netherlands.
Floresta
Half-length portrait of Auguste Comte, seated, known as the "Dutch portrait" (Portrait hollandais), produced after a daguerreotype of Comte taken in 1849. 1851.
A 1954 Brazilian postage stamp depicting Nísia Floresta.
Sor Juana
Masham
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies Part I, 1694 London
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690 London
Christ's College, Cambridge, c. 1690
Discours sur l'Amour Divin, 1715 Amsterdam
John Locke after Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1704
John Locke by Herman Verelst, 1689
John Locke's grave plaque, High Laver, Essex, United Kingdom
Text of the plaque in English:
Traveler, halt!
Near here is buried
JOHN LOCKE.
If you inquire about him, he replies that he
was content with his middling station. He was educated
to the extent that you may learn from his writings
how he worshipped truth alone; they [his writings]
will reveal to you everything else about him more faithfully
than the suspect eulogy of an epitaph: his virtues (if he had any)
altogether too small for him to offer them to you as
deserving of praise, as something to imitate; [and] as for his
faults, let them be buried with him. If you should seek an example of
morals, you have it in the Gospels; if you should wish an example of
vice, may you not seek it at all!; if you should wish an example of
mortality (may it profit you!), it is here and everywhere.
He was born Aug. 29, A. D. 1632.
He died Oct. 28, A. D. 1704.
The tablet that commemorates these events will soon perish as well.
Translated by Francis Newton, Duke University Classics Department, 2016.
Lord Shaftesbury by John Closterman, 1702
Masham - fake portrait from Internet
Masham's residence "Otes House," 1821
See Masham section 1.2 Portraits for more information.
Masham's signature, collage, 2016
Masham-Leibniz correspondence
Occasional Thoughts, 1705 London
Park at Otes House, c. 1765
Pierre Coste frontispiece, 1748 Hague
Reflections Upon the Conduct of Human Life, 1690 London
St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, London
The True Intellectual System of the Universe, 1678 London
Thoughts on a Christian Life, 1747 London
Masham's work was misattributed to John Locke.
Traité de l'Amour Divin, 1705 Amsterdam
Woman philosopher by Jonathan Lee, 2015
Discourse Concerning the Love of God
Shepherd
Staël
De l'influence sur le bonheur des individus et des nations
Van Schurman