Cultures of Correspondence

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter is rooted in the double meanings of ‘correspondence’ in early modern scientific culture, specifically in women’s engagements with natural philosophy. On the one hand, correspondence points to the importance of letters to projects of natural philosophical education and exchange. However, the idea of ‘correspondence’ draws attention to the importance of analogy and similitude as scientific and literary methods during this period. How did early modern women develop ideas of similarity, sympathy, and likeness that possessed both emotional and philosophical weight? This chapter explores the importance of correspondence in both senses to women’s natural philosophy. After outlining early modern Englishwomen’s varied engagements with natural philosophy, it explores several important epistolary exchanges, demonstrating how Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway engaged with questions of correspondence and antithesis, as well as the rhetorical uses of similitude, as they grappled with questions about the nature of the soul and the operations of matter.