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This page makes no claim to being a complete bibliography. Many of the artists, composers, and especially writers discussed are handled in the conventional histories, but others have been brought back into the light only through the surge of feminist scholarship in the past few decades. So the literature on these women tends to be a composite of articles, liner notes, and catalogues, rather than books. Rather than list all the sources I have consulted, I concentrate on those few books that specialize in covering the women in a particular field, plus a few more detailed accounts of individuals mentioned in the various classes. I will keep adding to this last category as my preparation for the course continues. In general, I have chosen books for accessibilty rather than scholarship, prioritizing those that are most copiously illustrated. I have also included AMAZON links and prices, but note that many of these texts may also be available used or on Kindle. rb.

The first three books are all highly recommended: the first two because of the breadth of their coverage and simply gorgeous physical presentation, the third because it offers a digestible anthology of the work of the pioneering scholar in the field, Linda Nochlin. The books that follow will mainly deal with individual artists and issues; I shall be adding to them over the next few weeks.

Perhaps it is my fault for proposing such a vague category, but it places us in awkward territory for books. There are a good number of scholarly studies of patrons (female and otherwise) in closely defined historical periods, but all are too narrow for our course. Fortunately the Gere & Vaizey book below casts its net very wide indeed, and is as good an introduction as you could wish. "Muse" is an even vaguer term: the Ruth Millington book gets right down to examining its validity, while the more selective but more chatty Francine Prose book has the advantage of featuring muses in literature, music, and dance as well as the visual arts. I am sure I will add books on individual figures later, but have only two for now: Peggy Guggenheim among the patrons, because hers is a first-hand account by an important collector, and Alma Mahler, because she is such a vivid and controversial figure.

I strongly recommend the first book below, even though it deals with only eight composers, as it is eminently readable and maintains a nice balance between biography and analysis. For more completeness, however, you are torn between an encyclopedia that is already out of date and a later book that is poorly written; consider these only if you can get them cheap. I have also added a book of piano pieces by women composers; if you play the piano, you can have at least some of the music literally at your fingertips.

For whatever reason, women writers have secured a place in history much sooner and in greater numbers than painters or composers, and they are treated in the general histories. For this reason, I am excluding mere lists from this section, and concentrating instead on anthologies or books that specifically explore the issues affecting women in the literary world. The first pair of books, by Elaine Showalter, are an example of each type; they are my main recommendation.

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