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 different periods. But there are many women whose works remain largely unexplored, in part because of the inaccessibility of the works.
This collectively produced open-source bibliography aims to pool our collective knowledge, about who wrote what, when, and where and how to find it now.
This bibliography will make it a more 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.
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.
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.
This creation of this bibliography was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant, SFU Library, and the Digital Humanities Innovation Lab at SFU.