Anne Conway (née Finch) was one of a few seventeenth-century women to achieve recognition as a philosopher. Her only published work appeared posthumously in translation, first in Latin as
Principia philosophiae antiquissimae et recentissimaein 1690, and then in English in 1692 as
The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy. Her only other known writings are letters, written mainly to her teacher and friend, the Cambridge Platonist, Henry More.
Anne Conway (1631-1679) was the posthumous daughter of Heneage Finch, Solicitor General, Recorder of London and Speaker of the House of Commons. Her mother, Elizabeth Cradock, raised Anne and her sister, Frances, together with four step-children from Sir Heneage’s first marriage, at the Finch home in the house that is now called
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Citation: Hutton, Sarah. "Anne Conway". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=994, accessed 12 December 2024.]