The Women of Israel: Volume 1

First published in 1845, this series of biographical essays considers the female perspective and experience of Jewish history.

Presented in the form of a series of biographical essays, this 1845 history of Hebrew women traces a continuity from the biblical matriarchs to the Jewish women of Aguilar's own generation. Volume 1 focuses on the women of the Old Testament, starting with Eve and concluding with Hannah.Grace Aguilar (1818–1847), a prolific nineteenth-century novelist and Jewish historian of Sephardic descent, was known for her works of fiction, but in this 1845 publication she addresses Jewish history from a female perspective. These two volumes consist of a series of biographical essays on Old Testament, Talmudic and modern Jewish women. Aguilar identifies a need for more female biography of scripture, postulating a continuity between the biblical matriarchs and the Jewish women of her generation. Addressing a female readership, Aguilar writes in a didactic and highly evangelical tone characteristic of the period, using her discussion to argue for the emancipation of Jews, particularly Jewish women, who should also have access to all Jewish religious texts. The Women of Israel is divided into seven historical periods, and this first volume deals with the first three. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=aguigr