Her major work as a translator was the translation of fellow scientist Isaac Newton’s seminal book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy from its original Latin into French. Published in 1759, her translation is still the standard French translation to this day.

Émilie du Châtelet received a good education in literature, mathematics and science. After marrying the Marquis du Châtelet at the age of nineteen and bearing three children, she resumed her mathematical studies in 1733 at the age of twenty-six.

She became the intellectual collaborator and romantic partner of the French philosopher Voltaire, one of the key figures of the Enlightenment. Later on, while still being friends with her husband and with Voltaire, she began an affair with the French poet Jean Francois de Saint-Lambert but didn’t survive a new pregnancy one year later.

Émilie was the first woman to have an essay published by the French Royal Academy of Sciences in 1739. Her essay dealt with the nature and propagation of fire (“Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu”).

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Émilie du Châtelet
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Foundations of Physics

Émilie du Châtelet’s main work as a writer was Foundations of Physics (original title: Institutions de Physique), published in Paris by Prault fils in 1740. A second edition was published in 1742, with a revised text under a slightly different title, Institutions Physiques.

Foundations of Physics synthesised and discussed the main ideas expressed by the prominent mathematicians and physicians of her time. The book covered many subjects, including the principles of knowledge, the existence of God, space, time, matter and the forces of nature, as well as Isaac Newton’s theory of motion and universal gravitation, which was attracting a lot of interest among her peers.

Foundations of Physics was translated into German and Italian in 1743. Her ideas were expressed in some chapters of the famed French Encyclopédie, a monumental encyclopedia in twenty-eight volumes (seventeen volumes of texts and eleven volumes of plates) published in France between 1751 and 1772 to incorporate all of the world’s knowledge, with many contributors.

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Émilie’s main work as a translator was the translation into French of fellow scientist Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (original title: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica), often referred to as Principia.

Written in Latin and first published in 1687, with two further editions in 1713 and 1726, the three-volume book details Newton’s laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation, and the mathematical methods Newton used in formulating his physical laws. Principia is now considered one of the major works in the history of science.

All the translations were based on the third edition in 1726. An English translation authored by the English mathematician Andrew Motte was published in 1729, with several subsequent editions.

The French translation authored by Émilie du Châtelet included a summary section (a common summary for the three volumes), an extensive commentary section (two thirds of the second volume) and an analytical section in which she applied the new mathematics of calculus to Newton’s most controversial theories.

The first French edition (considered “temporary”) was published in Paris by Desaint & Saillant in 1756, six years after Émilie’s death, under the title Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle [traduits] par feue Madame La Marquise du Chastellet. The second French edition (considered “final”) was published in two volumes by Desaint & Saillant in 1759, and is still the standard French edition to this day.

Her translation was a major step for the dissemination of Newtonian physics in France and in Europe and for the completion of the two-century Scientific Revolution which led to an empirical and evidence-based approach to science.

The Fable of the Bees (1715)

Émilie also translated The Fable of the Bees (1715) by the Anglo-Dutch social philosopher Bernard Mandeville under the title La Fable des Abeilles (1740).

In the preface to her translation, considered less a translation than a free adaptation into French, she strongly argued for the education of women, particularly a secondary education for young women as was available for young men. She explained that, by denying women a good education, society prevented women from becoming eminent contributors in the arts and sciences.

Being a learned woman respected by her peers didn’t prevent misogynistic comments. As stated by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in his Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (original title: Beobachtungen über das Gefühl des Schönen und Erhabenen), published in German in 1764:

“A woman who has a head full of Greek, like Mme Dacier [a French scholar and translator], or who conducts disputations about mechanics, like the Marquise du Châtelet, might as well also wear a beard; for that might perhaps better express the mien of depth [the overall appearance] for which they strive.”

But Kant did read their works, which probably influenced his own writings.

Further reading

• History of Scientific Women
• Who was Émilie du Châtelet and Why Does She Matter?
• The Scientific Trailblazer Who Turned Heads in Versailles

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide. See more entries by Marie Lebert, most profiling women translators.

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A prolific writer of poetry, novels, biography and commentary in vernacular French, she earned a living with her writing and is considered the first professional woman writer in Europe.

Christine de Pizan’s husband died of the plague in 1389, a year after her father’s death, leaving her to support her children and her mother as a court writer. This was considered a male occupation.

She skillfully used patronage in turbulent political times, with royalty commissioning her work, and became a prolific writer, with forty known works which include poetry, novels and biography, as well as literary, historical, philosophical, political and religious commentary.

Christine was personally involved in the production of her books, supervising the production of beautifully illustrated manuscripts that were acquired by fellow intellectuals for their own libraries.

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The Book of the City of Ladies

Why did Christine de Pizan write The Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la Cité des Dames)?

It began with a literary controversy known as “The Debate of the Rose” (“La Querelle de la Rose”) involving several intellectuals. As the only woman involved, she questioned some parts of Jean de Meun’s long poem “Le Roman de la Rose” (1275), a continuation of an earlier medieval poem (1240) with the same title written by the French poet Guillaume de Lorris.

Jean de Meun is often considered the greatest of French medieval poets, and “Le Roman de la Rose” was possibly the most read work in Europe in medieval times and beyond, hence its influence on society. It also criticized women, courtly love, and marriage, depicting at length the supposed vices of women and the means by which men could outwit them.

In The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine takes aim at the misogynistic views expressed by Jean de Meun in  “Romance of the Rose” by defending female virtues through many examples of famous biblical, historical and mythological women.

Christine first criticized Jean de Meun’s misogynistic views in her three essays “Epistle to the God of Love” (“Épître au Dieu d’Amour,” 1399), “The Tale of the Rose” (“Le Dit de la Rose,” 1402) and “Letters on the Debate of the Rose” (“Querelle du Roman de la Rose,” 1403).

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Then she wrote The Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, 1405) to give a passionate and well-organized defense of women by showing their many contributions to society.

In this work, she builds up a symbolic city named the City of Ladies (hence the title) by dialoguing with the three allegorical figures Reason, Justice and Rectitude sent to help her in this task. Step by step, Christine chooses 165 famous biblical, historical and mythological women as the building blocks for the outside walls, the inside walls and the buildings of the City of Ladies.

Her main source of inspiration was De Mulieribus Claris (Concerning Famous Women, 1361–62), an earlier collection of women’s biographies written in Latin prose by the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio. It was the first compilation devoted exclusively to women in medieval western literature, with the biographies of 106 historical and mythological women.

After the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1450, The Book of the City of Ladies was printed several times in the 15th and 16th centuries. It became a major source of inspiration for several French women writers, including Gabrielle de Bourbon, Anne of France, Marguerite de Navarre and Georgette de Montenay.

Christine’s book, written in vernacular French, was translated into English by Brian Anslay, an English administrator to King Henry VII and King Henry VIII, and published in 1521 as the Boke of the Cyte of Ladies. Some early printed editions didn’t reference Christine de Pizan as the author, which was unfortunately quite common for women’s writings at the time and beyond.

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Christine wrote a follow-up titled The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Le Trésor de la Cité des Dames), a manuscript dated 1405, also known as The Book of the Three Virtues (Le Livre des Trois Vertus). It is meant as a manual of education for women, with advice about how to cultivate useful qualities, including a good education.

These two works are now considered some of the earliest feminist writings. They have drawn the fascination of modern feminists such as French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.

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Christine de Pizan presents her Book to Margaret of Burgundy
from The Treasure of the City of Ladies
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Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide. See more entries by Marie Lebert, most profiling women translators.

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Originally published in England in 1803, it was published in the United States four years later. Hays was also a poet and novelist.

Mary Hays was born into a family of Protestant dissidents who rejected the practices of the Church of England, the established church at the time.

She was an autodidact who read poetry and novels and attended religious and political debates. After her fiancé John Eccles died of a sudden fever, she decided to stay single, earn a living in order to be independent, and dedicate her life to writing.

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Beginnings as a writer

Her first published poem was “Invocation to a Nightingale,” published in the Lady’s Poetical Magazine in 1781, followed by two other poems in 1785 and a short story in 1786.

After reading the English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft’s seminal book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman shortly after its publication in 1792, she contacted Joseph Johnson, the publisher of the book, and requested a meeting with the author, which led to a lifelong friendship.

She also befriended Mary Wollstonecraft’s husband William Godwin, who was a political philosopher, and other radical thinkers.

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A shocking first novel: Memoirs of Emma Courtney

Mary Hays’ epistolary novel Memoirs of Emma Courtney was published in 1797. The semi-autobiographical novel was based on Mary’s love for the English social reformer William Frend, which wasn’t reciprocated. The publication of the novel was followed by a swift backlash. Readers were shocked by the fact that the original letters she exchanged with Frend were included in the novel. Moralists were scandalized by her description of female sexual passion, adultery, infanticide and suicide.

Mary doubled down in her essay “An Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in Behalf of Women,” published anonymously in 1798 and calling for an end to the tyrannical rule of men over women.

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Later Works by Mary Hays

The Victim of Prejudice, published in 1799 under her real name, was her second novel. It describes the tribulations of a woman who spends her whole life fighting against social prejudice. After being raped by the local landowner, she unsuccessfully tries to seek legal redress. Unable to find work and accommodation, she is sent to a debtors’ prison. After her stay in prison, she attempts to lead an independent and virtuous life but is left ostracised by society. Despite her ordeal, she never loses her own sense of value and self-respect.

Hays is best known for the six-volume compendium Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of All Ages and Countries, published in London by Richard Phillips in 1803. It includes 300 notable women (in 294 entries) from ancient figures to nearly contemporaries. A six-volume facsimile edition was published in London by Pickering & Chatto in 2013–14.

A three-volume American edition was published in Philadelphia by Birch & Small in 1807 with minor typographical corrections.

Mary Hays’ last book was Memoirs of Queens, Illustrious and Celebrated, published in 1821. It is also a biographical compilation. The last years of her life were difficult, with little income and moderate praise for her work. Her writings were rediscovered later on as part of the emerging feminist movement.

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Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide. See more entries by Marie Lebert, most profiling women translators.

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Picardet was the only woman scientist in the Dijon Academy (Dijon being a French town) and the only scientist who was proficient in four foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Swedish).

She translated many books and articles relating to chemistry and mineralogy for her French colleagues to keep abreast of current developments in their field.

Born in Dijon, a town in eastern France, in 1735, Claudine Picardet was the eldest daughter of the French royal notary Francois Poulet de Champlevey. She married the French barrister Claude Picardet in 1755. She attended lectures in scientific circles and joined the Dijon Academy.

Translations by Claudine Picardet

As the only woman in Academie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Dijon and the only scientist who was proficient in four foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Swedish), she undertook translations into French of the scientific literature of her time, mainly in chemistry and mineralogy.

These translations were essential for her colleagues to keep abreast of current developments in their field and contributed to the Chemical Revolution. The Chemical Revolution consisted in the reformulation of chemistry with new principles and theories under the leadership of French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, often called the father of modern chemistry.

Claudine translated at least three major works by the English botanist John Hill (in 1774), by the German Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (in 1785) and by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (in 1790).

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She translated hundreds of pages of scientific papers, including papers originally written in Swedish (by Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman), in English (by Richard Kirwan and William Fordyce), in German (by Johann Christian Wiegleb, Johann Friedrich Westrumb, Johann Carl Friedrich Meyer and Martin Heinrich Klaproth) and in Italian (by Marsilio Landriani).

Some of her translations were published in scientific journals, for example in “Annales de chimie” [Annals of chemistry], a journal established in 1789 by three prominent French chemists: Antoine Lavoisier, Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, and Claude Louis Berthollet. The rules of the editorial board stated that translators were to be paid comparably to authors.

Her other translations were circulated as manuscript copies in scientific circles. Claudine Picardet was not always credited for her work, which was common at the time for works authored or translated by women. Some early publications didn’t mention her name at all. Later publications identified her as “Mme P” or “Mme P*** de Dijon”.

Named “Bureau de traduction de Dijon” [Translation office of Dijon], the translation office was run by Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, a prominent chemist and translator, and may have included half a dozen translators all together. They also carried out the laboratory experiments detailed in the articles in order to replicate experimental instructions and to confirm the results observed.

Later years and legacy

After the death of her husband in 1796, Claudine moved from Dijon to Paris. Two years later, she married Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, her colleague of many years who had become a close friend.

Throughout her life, Claudine hosted renowned scientific and literary salons, first in Dijon and then in Paris. She participated actively in the collection of meteorological data, her other passion, another network created by Antoine Lavoisier in 1785 to advance knowledge in this field.

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide. See more entries by Marie Lebert, most profiling women translators.

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They both liked the subversive tone of Sand’s novels and the political and social issues tackled in her works.

Eliza Ashurst belonged to a family of English radical activists who supported causes such as abolitionism, women’s suffrage and Italian unification (Risorgimento).

She attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 with her father William Henry Ashurst, who was a delegate, and her sister Matilda Ashurst (later known as Matilda Ashurst Biggs).

Eliza and Matilda were not permitted to speak at the conference because women couldn’t serve as delegates. The exclusion of women was one of the many incentives which triggered the women’s suffrage movement. Eliza and her three sisters (Caroline, Matilda and Emilie) signed the 1866 Petition of Women’s Suffrage presented to the English Parliament.

Eliza met the Italian politician Giuseppe Mazzini, who was leading the fight for Risorgimento, in 1844 and corresponded extensively with him until her death in 1850. Mazzini corresponded with Eliza’s sisters Caroline Ashurst (later known as Caroline Ashurst Stansfeld) and Emilie Ashurst (later known as Emilie Ashurst Venturi) as well.

Emilie Ashurst became the primary translator of Mazzini’s works into English. The three volumes of “Mazzini’s Letters to an English Family, 1844-1854” were published in New York by John Lane in 1920–23. The 1,500 selected letters were first compiled by Emilie (until her death in 1893) before being compiled by her friend Elinor Francis Richards.

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George Sand
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Widening George Sand’s reach, and other endeavors

Eliza Ashurst and her friend Matilda Hays both read some French novels by George Sand. They loved her free-love and independent lifestyle, highly unusual at the time, as well as the subversive tone of her novels and the political and social issues she described.

George Sand had a turbulent love life, advocated for women’s rights, criticized the institution of marriage, and regularly fought against the prejudices of a conservative society.

Encouraged by Giuseppe Mazzini, who was corresponding with George Sand, Eliza Ashurst and Matilda Hays decided to give a larger audience to George Sand through translation. At Mazzini’s request, George Sand invited Eliza to her home in Nohant, a village in central France, for them to meet in person.

Matilda Hays had already translated The Last Aldini (original title, La Dernière Aldini). Eliza and Matilda teamed up to translate Spiridion (Spiridion), Letters of a Traveller (Lettres d’un Voyageur), The Mosaic Workers (Les Maîtres Mosaïstes), and André. 

It seems that Eliza mainly translated the works while Matilda mainly edited the translations of her friend. Most English editions were published in 1847, except for Spiridion, published earlier, in 1842. Manzini wrote a preface for the English edition of Letters of a Traveller.

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Matilda Hays (right) and Charlotte Cushman were 
in a long-term openly lesbian relationship

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Matilda Hays’ Work after Eliza Ashurt’s Death

Eliza Ashurst met Jean Bardonneau Narcy, a French national guardsman, in Paris in 1848 and married him in 1849 despite her family’s reluctance. She first miscarried and then died in childbirth in 1850. Matilda Hays translated Fadette (La Petite Fadette) alone after Eliza’s death. The English edition was published in 1851.

Matilda Hays later co-founded (with English feminists Barbara Bodichon and Bessie Rayner Parkes) the monthly English Woman’s Journal in 1858 to cover women’s employment and equality issues. She became the co-editor of the journal (with Bessie Rayner Parkes) during its six years of existence, until 1864. Their office was also used as a women’s club with a reading room, drinks and meals.

The journal was printed by the Victoria Press, established to this intent by the women’s rights activist Emily Faithfull along with other feminist activists (including Matilda Hays). Their goal was to employ women as compositors despite the hostility of the male-dominated London Society of Compositors.

Matilda wrote two novels, Helen Stanley (1866) and Adrienne Hope (1868). In her first novel, she stated that women couldn’t secure their financial and social futures until they “teach their daughters to respect themselves … to work for their daily bread, rather than prostitute their persons and hearts” by getting married.

She also became a part-time actress. Her love interests included the American stage actress Charlotte Cushman, with whom she had a ten-year relationship, and the English poet Adelaide Anne Procter.

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide.

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By her own account her first literary works were translations of theological and philosophical works, which influenced her work as a fiction writer. She also led a life defying the conventions of her time.

Mary Ann Evans received a good education and was a voracious reader. Her father was the estate manager of the Arbury Hall Estate (in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England) and she had access to the large library of the estate, including many Greek classics.

She moved to London in 1850 with the intent of becoming a writer. She wrote essays for The Westminster Review, a left-wing journal in which she expressed radical views and questioned organized religion.

By her own account her first literary works were translations of theological and philosophical works from German and Latin into English, which influenced some of her novels, novellas and short stories.

Mary Ann Evans’ (George Eliot) translations

Her first translation was the translation of German theologian David Friedrich Strauss’ seminal work The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (original title: Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet) into English, based on its fourth German edition (1840).

The translation of the first volume was drafted by Elizabeth “Rufa” Brabant (later known as Rufa Hennell, her married name) who, like Mary Ann, was a member of the Rosehill Circle, a group debating radical views about religion. Rufa couldn’t go on with the translation after getting married. Mary Ann edited the first volume and translated the second volume.

The English edition was published in 1846. By arguing that the miracles in the New Testament were mythical additions with little basis in fact, the book had already caused a sensation and a scandal in Germany, and the translation had a similar effect in England.

Her second translation was the translation of German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach’s Das Wesen des Christentums (1841) as The Essence of Christianity (1854), with a second edition in 1881 and a third edition in 1893.

Her third translation was Baruch Spinoza’s Ethics (Ethica), a philosophical treatise written in Latin in 1661–75 and published posthumously in 1677. Completed in 1856 as The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza, her translation wasn’t published in her lifetime. It was published much later (1981) by Thomas Deegan before being published in 2018 by the George Eliot Archive and re-published in 2020 by the Princeton University Press.

Mary Ann Evans published her own seven novels under the pen name of George Eliot. Set in provincial England, her novels describe rural life, social outsiders and times of political crisis.

Adam Bede (1859) was followed by The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862-63), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), and Middlemarch (1871–72), her most acclaimed novel. Her last novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), was the only one of her works of fiction set in the Victorian society of her day and a mixture of social satire and moral searching.

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide.

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She published several books about her travels and her archeological excavations. She corresponded extensively with many friends, colleagues and policy makers during her whole life.

Gertrude was outspoken and independent from an early age. She studied modern history at Oxford University and developed a passion for archeology and languages. The support of her father, English industrialist Hugh Bell, and the family fortune helped her achieve her passion.

She became fluent in Arabic, Persian (Farsi), French, and other languages, which proved essential to interact with the local population during her travels.

She authored the translation of the poetry collection The Divān of Hafez, published in London in 1897. Hafez, a 14th-century Persian lyric poet, wrote his poems in Persian (Farsi) and Arabic.

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Exploring and mapping the Middle East

Gertrude spent many years exploring and mapping the Middle East, and participating in several archeological excavations. As she was fluent in Arabic and Persian (Farsi), she established close relations with local inhabitants, local tribes and local policy makers.

She advocated for the creation of independent Arab states and advised the British government against fighting with nationalists. She authored intelligence reports and white papers and, as such, was labelled the first female diplomat in the region.

After settling permanently in Baghdad in 1919, Gertrude became a key player in the nation building of the Kingdom of Iraq. Because of her background as an archeologist, she was appointed the director of the new Department of Antiquities in order to organise and regulate archeological excavations and to prevent the looting of antiquities.

She participated in the creation of the Baghdad Archeological Museum (later renamed Iraq Museum and also known as National Museum of Iraq) and the Baghdad Public Library (later renamed National Library of Iraq), and supported the education of Iraqi women.

Gertrude Bell’s writings

She wrote several books, including:

• Persian Pictures (1894), about her first travels to Persia
• Syria: The Desert and The Sown (1907) about her trip to Damascus, Jerusalem, Beirut, Antioch and other places
• A Thousand and One Churches (with English archeologist William Mitchell Ramsay, 1907) about their excavations in Anatolia
• Amurath to Amurath (1911) about her archeological work in Mesopotamia
• The Palace and Mosque of Ukhaidir: A Study in early Mohammadan Architecture (1914) about the ruins of Ukhaidir in Mesopotamia

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The Legacy of Gertrude Bell

Gertrude corresponded extensively with many friends, colleagues and policy makers during her whole life, including with fellow British archeologist and diplomat Thomas Edward Lawrence (better known as T. E. Lawrence, and popularly as “Lawrence of Arabia”), a lifelong colleague and friend, and with her stepmother Florence Bell, a writer and playwright who had married her father in 1876 after the death of Gertrude’s mother (who was his first wife).

According to the obituary penned by her colleague David George Hogarth in 1926:

“No woman in recent time has combined her qualities – her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigour, hard common sense and practical efficiency – all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic spirit.”

One year after her death, a selection of her extensive correspondence (out of 2,400 pages of letters) was edited by her stepmother Florence Bell and published in two volumes as The Letters of Gertrude Bell  (1927).

Further reading (& viewing) about Gertrude Bell

• The Incredible Life and Adventures of Gertrude Bell (documentary)
• The Death of Gertrude Bell
• Gertrude Bell (Historic UK)
• The Incredible Gertrude Bell

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide.

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She became the first editor of the American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar in 1867.

Born in Millville (now Yaphank) in the State of New York, Booth was of French descent on her mother’s side. After moving to New York City at the age of eighteen, she wrote tales and sketches for newspapers and magazines and also worked as a translator. She wrote History of the City of New York (1859), which became a bestseller.

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Works translated by Mary Louise Booth

She is estimated to have translated up to forty books. Her first translation from French to English was The Marble-Worker’s Manual (1856), followed by The Clock and Watch Maker’s Manual.

She also translated some works by French writers Joseph Méry, Edmond François Valentin About, and Victor Cousin. She assisted the American translator Orlando Williams Wight in producing a series of translations of French classics.

At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, she translated the French statesman and anti-slavery advocate Agénor de Gasparin’s seminal work Uprising of a Great People (original title: Un Grand Peuple qui Se Relève, just published in France) in a very short time by working twenty hours a day for one week. The American English edition was published in a fortnight by Scribner’s, a well-known publisher. The book caused a sensation and she received many appreciative letters for her contribution to abolitionism.

Mary Louise translated other books by anti-slavery advocates, including Agénor de Gasparin’s America before Europe (L’Amérique devant l’Europe) in 1861, politician Augustin Cochin’s Results of Emancipation and Results of Slavery (the two volumes of L’Abolition de l’Esclavage) in 1862, and jurist Édouard René de Laboulaye’s Paris in America (Paris en Amérique) in 1865.

She also translated non-political books, including Agénor de Gasparin’s religious works (written with his wife), Édouard René de Laboulaye’s Fairy Book (Contes Bleus), educator Jean Macé’s Fairy Tales (Contes du Petit-Château), historian Henri Martin’s History of France (Histoire de France”), and philosopher Blaise Pascal’s Provincial Letters (Lettres Provinciales”).

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Mary Louise Booth as editor of Harper’s Bazaar

She was the first editor of Harper’s Bazaar, the American fashion magazine created in 1867, and kept the position for more than twenty years until her death in 1889.

Under her leadership, the magazine steadily increased its circulation and influence. After struggling financially for years as a writer and translator, she earned a larger salary than any other woman in America.

Further reading

• The Long Island History Project
• Mary Louise Booth is as Good a Friend as Ever
• Yaphank New York Historical Society, Mary L. Booth Birthplace

Contributed by Marie Lebert. Edited by Nava Atlas, Literary Ladies Guide.

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Here are five women translators of the past whose work was groundbreaking, contributing to gender equality, education for all, abolitionism and scientific knowledge across borders and languages.

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Claudine Picardet,
chemist and scientific translator

Claudine Picardet (1735–1820) was a French chemist, mineralogist and meteorologist living in Dijon, a town in eastern France. She was the only woman at the Dijon Academy, and the only scientist who was proficient in five foreign languages (Latin, English, Italian, German, Swedish).

Claudine decided to translate a number of books and articles into French  that were written by leading scientists of her time, for the benefit of her colleagues.

She translated three books and dozens of scientific papers originally written in Swedish (works by Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Torbern Bergman), in English (works by John Hill, Richard Kirwan and William Fordyce), in German (works by Johann Christian Wiegleb, Johann Friedrich Westrumb, Johann Carl Friedrich Meyer and Martin Heinrich Klaproth) and in Italian (works by Marsilio Landriani).

Claudine Picardet’s translations were essential for the dissemination of scientific knowledge during the Chemical Revolution, a movement led by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, often called the Father of modern chemistry.

She also hosted renowned scientific and literary salons in Dijon and in Paris, where she moved later on, and actively participated in the collection of meteorological data.

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Sarah Austin, tireless advocate
of public education for all

As a child, Sarah Austin (1793–1867) studied Latin, French, German and Italian in her native England. After marrying legal philosopher John Austin in 1819, she became a translator and editor, and corresponded extensively with many writers. The couple moved from London to Bonn, Germany, in 1827, living largely on Sarah’s income.

Sara translated into English a few works written by her German and French contemporaries, for example Characteristics of Goethe from the German of Falk, von Müller, etc., with notes, original and translated, illustrative of German literature (in 1833), as well as books by German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Carové (in 1834), German historian Leopold von Ranke (in 1840) and French historian François Guizot (in 1850).

One of her translations was the Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia, written in 1832 by French philosopher Victor Cousin for the French Minister of Public Education.

In the preface to her translation (published in 1834), she personally pleaded for the cause of public education. She also advocated for a national system of education in England in a pamphlet published in 1839 in the Foreign Quarterly Review.

She regularly stood for her intellectual rights as a translator, writing that “It has been my invariable practice, as soon as I have engaged to translate a work, to write to the author of it, announcing my intention, and adding that if he has any correction, omission, or addition to make, he might depend on my paying attention to his suggestions” (in “Sarah Austin,” Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 2, 1885).

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Clémence Royer (1830-1902),
translator of Charles Darwin’s seminal book

Clémence Royer (1830–1902) was a self-taught French scholar who undertook the major task of translating English naturalist Charles Darwin’s seminal book On the Origin of Species (first published in 1859). His concept of evolutionary adaptation through natural selection was attracting widespread interest outside Britain, and Darwin was eager to have his book translated into French.

In the first French edition (1862), based on the third English edition, Clémence Royer went beyond her role as a translator, with a 60-page preface expressing her own views and many detailed explanatory footnotes.

Her own views had more in common with French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s ideas than with Darwin’s ideas. After reading her translation, Darwin was unhappy with her preface and footnotes and, according to him, her lack of knowledge in natural history.

Darwin requested the correction of some errors and inaccuracies in the second French edition (1866). The third French edition (1873) was produced without Darwin’s consent, with a second preface that also made Darwin unhappy, and an appendix that forgot the additions to the fourth and fifth English editions and only included the additions to the sixth English edition (published in 1872).

After three French editions (1862, 1866, 1873) published by Guillaumin, the fourth French edition (1882) was published by Flammarion the year of Darwin’s death, and stayed popular until 1932. Her controversial translation brought fame to Clémence Royer, who extensively wrote and lectured on philosophy, feminism and science, including on Darwinism.

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Mary Louise Booth, translator of major books
by anti-slavery advocates

Born in Millville (now Yaphank) in the State of New York, Mary Louise Booth (1831–1899) was of French descent on her mother’s side.

After moving to New York City at the age of 18, she wrote many pieces for various newspapers and magazines, and translated around 40 books from French into English, including works by writers Joseph Méry and Edmond François Valentin About, and by philosopher Victor Cousin.

She assisted Orlando Williams Wight, a fellow American translator, in producing a series of translations of French classics. She also wrote a History of the City of New York (1859) that became a bestseller.

When the American Civil War started in 1861, she translated French anti-slavery advocate Agénor de Gasparin’s book Uprising of a Great People (just published in France) in a very short time by working twenty hours a day for one week. Her translation was published in a fortnight by American publisher Scribner’s and widely distributed.

Then she translated Gasparin’s America before Europe (translation published in 1861), as well as books by other anti-slavery advocates, including Pierre-Suzanne-Augustin Cochin’s Results of Emancipation and Results of Slavery (1862) and Édouard René de Laboulaye’s Paris in America (1865).

She received praise and encouragement from President Abraham Lincoln, Senator Charles Sumner and other statesmen for her invaluable contribution towards the abolition of slavery.

She also translated other books by the same authors, including Gasparin’s religious works (written with his wife) and Laboulaye’s Fairy Book, as well as Fairy Tales by educator Jean Macé, History of France by historian Henri Martin, and Provincial Letters by philosopher Blaise Pascal.

She became the first editor-in-chief of the newly created magazine Harper’s Bazaar from 1867 until her death in 1899. Under her leadership, the magazine steadily increased its circulation and influence to become a household name. After struggling financially for decades as a writer and translator, she finally earned a larger salary than any woman in America.

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Alix Strachey,
translator of Freud’s complete works

Alix Strachey (1892–1973), an American-born English psychoanalyst, spent her whole life working alongside her husband, James Strachey, who was a fellow English psychoanalyst. Shortly after getting married in 1920, they left for Vienna, Austria, and spent two years studying psychology with famed Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

At Freud’s request, they first translated some of his articles from German into English. Then they worked tirelessly for many years (from 1953 to 1966) to translate his complete works (written between 1886 to 1939), in collaboration with Anna Freud, Freud’s youngest daughter, and with the help of English musicologist and translator Alan Tyson.

The 24-volume translation was published in 1953-74 by Hogarth Press in London under the title The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, with James Strachey as its editor. Also known to scholars as The Standard Edition (SE), it included introductions to Freud’s various works and extensive bibliographical and historical footnotes, It quickly became the reference edition of Freud’s works in English, and a reference work for translations into other languages.

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More women translators are celebrated in the ebook Some Women Translators of the Past (July 2024)

Also by Marie Lebert: 10 Lost Ladies of Literary Translation

Article written by Marie Lebert (edited by Nava Atlas). Marie Lebert is a French translator and librarian who has worked for international organizations and global projects in several countries. She is currently based in Australia. She writes about translation and translators – past and present — with a focus on women translators.

Women translators have been forgotten for too long before being recently acknowledged in Wikipedia thanks to its many contributors. Marie holds a PhD in linguistics (digital publishing) from the Sorbonne, Paris. Her articles, essays and ebooks are available online in English, French and Spanish at Marie Lebert. 

The post 5 Women Translators to Celebrate on International Translation Day appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Laura Marx (1845 – 1911) was the second daughter of Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen was instrumental in translating Marx’s works from German into French. Her sister Eleanor Marx (1855-1898), the youngest daughter in the Marx family, was involved in translation from German into English.

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Laura Marx, 
translator of Karl Marx’s works into French

Jenny Laura Marx (also known as Laura Lafargue) was a German social activist, and a translator from German to French. Born in Brussels, Belgium, she was the second daughter of Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen, an activist and social critic in her own right. Laura moved with her parents to France, and then to Prussia, before the family settled in London in 1849.

Laura married French revolutionary socialist Paul Lafargue in 1868. They spent decades doing political work together, translating Karl Marx’s work into French, and spreading Marxism in France and Spain, while being financially supported by German philosopher Friedrich Engels.

Laura Marx died in 1911 in a suicide pact with her husband Paul Lafargue. She was 66, and he was 69. She left this letter, she wrote in part: “I die with the supreme joy of knowing that at some future time, the cause to which I have been devoted for forty-five years will triumph. Long live Communism! Long Live the international socialism!”

Laura Marx’s main translations were:

• The Communist Manifesto (Manifeste du parti communiste, 1897) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
• Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany (Révolution et contre-révolution en Allemagne, 1900) by Karl Marx
• Religion, philosophie, socialisme (translated with Paul Lafargue, 1901) by Friedrich Engels
• A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (Contribution à la critique de l’économie politique, 1909) by Karl Marx

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Eleanor Marx,
translator of Karl Marx’s works into English

Eleanor Marx (1855-1898) was an English socialist activist and a translator from German, French and Norwegian to English. Known to her family as Tussy, she was the English-born youngest daughter Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen.

As a child, Eleanor Marx often played in in her father’s study while he was writing Capital (Das Kapital), the foundational text of what would become known as Marxism.

According to her biographer Rachel Holmes, “Tussy’s childhood intimacy with Marx whilst he wrote the first volume of Capital provided her with a thorough grounding in British economic, political and social history. Tussy and Capital grew together.” (quoted in Eleanor Marx: A Life, Bloomsbury, 2014).

Eleanor Marx became her father’s secretary at age sixteen and accompanied him to socialist conferences around the world.

In London, she met with French revolutionary socialist Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, who had fled to England after participating in the Paris Commune, a revolutionary socialist government that briefly ruled Paris in 1871.

Eleanor Marx took her own life at age 43 after discovering that her partner, English Marxist Edward Aveling, had secretly married a young actress the previous year.

Translations of Karl Marx’s work

Eleanor translated some parts of Capital from German to English. She also edited the translations of Marx’s lectures Value, Price and Profit (Lohn, Preis und Profit) and Wage Labour and Capital (Lohnarbeit und Kapital) for them to be published into books.

After Karl Marx’s death in 1883, Eleanor Marx published her father’s unfinished manuscripts and the English edition of Capital (1887).

Other translations by Eleanor Marx

Eleanor translated Lissagaray’s History of the Paris Commune of 1871 (L’Histoire de la Commune de 1871). The English edition was published in 1876. She also translated literary works, including French novelist Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary in 1886.

Eleanor expressly learned Norwegian to translate Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen’s plays, including An Enemy of the People (En Folkefiende) in 1888, and The Lady from the Sea (Fruen fra havet) in 1890.

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Source: A history of translation in 150 portraits

See also: 10 Lost Ladies of Literary Translation

Contributed by Marie Lebert (edited by Nava Atlas). Reprinted by permission. Marie is a bilingual French-English translator. She has worked as a translator and/or librarian for international organizations and has written ebooks, articles and essays about translation and translators, ebooks, libraries and librarians, and medieval art. She holds a doctorate of linguistics (digital publishing) from the Sorbonne University, Paris, and a master of social science (society and culture) from the University of Caen, Normandy. Find more about women translators of the past at Marie Lebert.

The post Laura and Eleanor Marx, translators of Karl Marx appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.