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An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex

by Judith Drake

contrib. by James Drake and Mary Astell

An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex is a 17th century English feminist essay, written in the form of a conversation between several male and female characters.

Bibliographic notes

An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex was first published anonymously (simply as by "a Lady") in 1696. Several editions have been published since then. The essay was formerly often attributed to Mary Astell, but is now generally held to be by Judith Drake. The one author named in the work is James Drake, Judith's husband, at the end of a poem dedicated to the main author that appears early in the book.

See also
 
Annotated editions Historic editions

These are listed in publication order.

Editions in libraries

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