Two Writers on the Woman Philosopher Who Changed Their Lives

When I caught news of the publication of Francesca Peacock’s biography of Margaret Cavendish, my ears pricked up—I’d just learned about the 17th-century writer and philosopher several months earlier in Regan Penaluna’s excellent book on women philosophers throughout history and was dying to know more about Cavendish in particular. I asked if Peacock and Penaluna might correspond with each another to discuss philosophy, feminism, and Cavendish. They were generous enough to oblige.  —Sophia Stewart, editor

Dear Francesca,

I’m not superstitious, but I do love to encounter things from the 17th century, especially those that the women philosophers I wrote about in my book, How to Think Like a Woman, may have also come across. It’s not that the object itself is objectively more special, but I love its effect on my mind—its animating power—and I do somehow feel closer to these remarkable thinkers.

I feel something similar when I meet people who are also drawn early modern women intellectuals, so when I learned about your wonderful book on Margaret Cavendish, Pure Wit, and now have had the chance to read it, I was thrilled by the idea of corresponding with you.

Tell me—was there a moment, an object, a shred of writing, a fact that brought her into sharp focus for you and made you realize that you should write a book on this incredible, yet nearly-forgotten woman?

Yours,
Regan

Dear Regan,

I share your feeling—for me, I love the sense of discovering a network of early modern women writers’ thoughts: what they read or might have read, who they met or. What a heritage of women’s writing!