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Galilæana. Studies in Renaissance and Early Modern Science

Focus

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2025)

“The highest and deepest speculations of the mind”: The Digbys and Familial Experimental Partnerships in Early Modern England

DOI
https://doi.org/10.57617/gal-77
Submitted
29 March 2025
Published
2025-10-31

Abstract

This project examines the life and experimental/ domestic writing of Venetia Digby (née Stanley; 1600-1633), including the context of her marriage to Sir Kenelm Digby, an original member of the Royal Society. Women like Venetia are often lost to history beyond their social and familial roles. She is remembered for her beauty and possible adultery, but rarely as a medical practitioner, or as a participant in the developing scientific world of seventeenth-century London. By examining the lives and writings of women like Venetia, we may be able to expand our understanding of the nature of knowledge production in this period and the gendered ways we have tended to separate sources, with the result of obscuring the contours of the larger historical landscape. Through this type of study, we can endeavor to show that these women were visible and crucial contributors to the scientific environment and institutions of the seventeenth century.

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