Historia Mulierum Philosopharum. Scriptore Aegidio Menagio. Accedit ejusdem Commentarius Italicus in VII. Sonettum Francisci Petrarchae, a re non alienus. [with] Lezzione d' Egidio Menagio sopra'l Sonetto VII di messer Francesco Petrarca.

130, [26], 80, [15] pp. 12mo. Contemporary vellum with title and decorative device in black ink on spine. Italian text. The first printed history of women philosophers, and a somewhat revolutionary statement at the time concerning the place of women in intellectual pursuits. Giles Menage provides biographical sketches of over five dozen women influential in the field, and provides references to contextualize their contributions. This work was not translated from the original Italian into English until the mid-1980s, at which point it soon inspired further scholarly work. Bound in the same volume is Menage's Lezzione d' Egidio Menagio sopra'l Sonetto VII di messer Francesco Petrarca (Lesson of Gilles Ménage on the Seventh Sonnet of Francesco Petrarch), a philological work first published in 1678.