Italy, France, and England
October 1, 2007
Gr 6 Up-There are numerous excellent reference works dealing with the Renaissance but few focus specifically on women. This work covers how women of the period lived; how they were treated and viewed; and the literary, artistic, musical, social, political, scientific, and religious contributions they made. Most of the roughly 150 entries are biographies. They include profiles of Marguerite de Navarre, Catherine of Siena, Elizabeth I, Isabella dEste, Louise Labé, Artemisia Gentileschi, Barbara Strozzi, Anne de Graville, Anna of Denmark, and Sofonisba Anguissola. Black-and-white reproductions of period portraits are included in many of the profiles. Subjects include alchemy; contraception and birth control; religious persecution; feminism; power, politics, and women; Sappho and the Sapphic tradition; work; and literary culture. Each of the alphabetically arranged essays is about one-half to two pages long, and is signed, concise, and well written, and the bibliography is extensive. An excellent addition."Madeleine G. Wright, New Hampton School, NH"
Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2007
Historian Joan Kellys assertion in the 1970s that there was, in fact, no Renaissance for women served to spurinterest in and research about the role and contributions of womenin Europe between 1350 and 1700, the years roughly assigned to the Renaissance. This encyclopedia benefits from 30 years worth of investigation and writing as well asthe publication of works by Renaissance women. While 135 of the 180 entries are biographical, the remainder arestylish essays on topics as varied as Alchemy;Marriage; Music and women; Old age and women; Printers, the book trade, and women; andSappho and the Sapphic tradition. As indicated by the subtitle, the focus is on Italy, France, and England, and the intent is to give as full a picture as possible of the life of women during the time. The success of the attempt is a tribute to the editorsas well as to the 103 contributors, most of whom have college or university affiliations. Following a chronology that serves to place womens concerns and achievements in the context of better-known historical occurrences, entries are presented in alphabetical order. All entries are followed by see also listings and bibliographies. Biographical essays begin withthe birthand death dates for their subject anda one- or two-line description of her contributions.Black-and-white illustrations are included with some entries and extend the text well. Length of entries is proportional to importance or depth, with broad topics such as Work and women receiving more page space than most of the biographical entries. Interesting, informative, and leading seamlessly from article to article by means of the cross-referencing, the volume provides a picture of the tenor of life for both lower-class and privileged women.Itconcludes with an extensive bibliography, divided into primary and secondary sources. The index is comprehensive and accurate. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance is specific to the topic of women in a way that more general works, such as Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (Scribner, 1999), are not. One of those rare reference books that is not only a good source of information but a fascinating read, this is an excellent addition for most academic and large publiclibraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)