Ross demonstrates how the expanding ranks of learned women in the Renaissance era presented the first significant challenge to the traditional definition of “woman” in the West. The Birth of Feminism demonstrates that because of their education, these women laid the foundation for the emancipation of womankind.

* Note on the Texts * Introduction I: THE HOUSEHOLD ACADEMY, 1400-1580 * Her Father's Daughter * Household Academies in Venice and London * The Biographical Tradition * Models of Feminist Argument II: THE HOUSEHOLD SALON, 1580-1680 * Learned Wives and Mothers in Italy * Collaborative Marriages in Britain * Discourses of Equality and Rights * Conclusion * Abbreviations * Notes * Bibliography * Acknowledgments * Index

A provocative and academic new reading of Renaissance feminism for a post-feminist generation. -- Kate Lowe, Queen Mary, University of London The Birth of Feminism comes to us as a crucial book at this time since--strange to say--we still lack synthetic, comprehensive studies in women's literary and political history prior to 1750. Ross's book spans 300 years and documents the rise of a discourse of women's rights and the culture of feminism in two nations, offering a much needed guide to the period and its chief actors. -- Diana Robin, University of New Mexico This is an impressive and very persuasive study. I would recommend it to anyone interested in women's literature, women's history, or in the history of education for the wealth of information Ross has gathered and for the effective way she builds her argument about the education of women within the intellectual family. -- Elissa B. Weaver, University of Chicago Sarah Ross redraws our maps of Renaissance society and culture in this erudite and fascinating book. She recreates a lost world of women humanists, who found new meanings in ancient texts and new literary possibilities in ancient models. She rediscovers, behind them, another forgotten world, one of generous fathers--real and fictive--who helped women learn, write, and make their way into the public world. And through deft close readings of a wide range of texts, she proves that both in Italy and in England, intellectual women had an extraordinary Renaissance. -- Anthony Grafton, Princeton University