Amazons and apprentices : women and the German Parnassus in the early Enlightenment
"For a brief period of time in the eighteenth century, Johann Christoph Gottsched and his circle - including prominently his wife, Luise Adelgunde Victoria Gottsched, nee Kulmus - dominated efforts to construct a German culture sophisticated enough to rival the French. In the 1730s they attempted to codify the grammar and spelling of written German, elevate German literature, refine cultural practices and taste, and introduce enlightened ideas." "Gottsched's efforts to involve women in this process have been noted, but in Amazons and Apprentices, Katherine Goodman examines for the first time the Gottsched circle's initiatives regarding intellectual women in the context of the broader discourse of which they were an important part. She presents an array of voices and texts from the years 1715 to 1740, including dictionaries, moral weeklies, letters, translations, and literature."--BOOK JACKET