Catharine Trotter began her public writing career at the age of fourteen with her short epistolary novel, Olinda's Adventures: Or the Amours of a Young Lady (1693). She proceeded to write across several genres, including poetry, drama, and philosophy. Trotter had her first dramatic work, a tragedy, Agnes De Castro (1695), produced in London when she was just sixteen years old. She followed this success with four additional plays in the next thirteen years. Her first and most recognized philosophical tract, A Defence of Mr. Lock's Essay of Human Understanding: Wherein Its Principles with Reference to Morality, Reveal'd Religion, and the Immortality of the Soul, are Consider'd and Justify'd. In Answer to Some Remarks on that Essay (1702), received considerable attention for its perspicuous comprehension of John Locke's work. After her final play was produced in 1706, Trotter devoted the remainder of her writing career primarily to philosophical endeavors. Trotter's pen brought...