Abstract

This study reclaims the life and work of a key female figure among 18th-century German intellectual and literary circles, Elise Reimarus (1735-1805). To date typically acknowledged only in connection with famous men such as G. E. Lessing and M. Mendelssohn, Reimarus made significant contributions to the German Enlightenment in her own right, as a writer, educator, dramatist, and early leader of a literary salon. The reconstruction of Reimarus-biography, based on extensive archival research, provides new insights into the participation of women in an intellectual movement where women are sometimes seen as of little importance. The study also recovers Reimarus-writings, both manuscript works and once widely circulated publications, that have been unknown since her death. Surviving manuscript writings other than letters are published here for the first time. With illustrations, genealogical tables, maps, a bibliography, and an index.