Welcome to this project

The American Philosophical Society Members Bibliography and Biography, which will include books and pamphlets published by Members elected to the Society from 1743-1826, represents one snapshot of the American Enlightenment, by glimpsing that cultural and intellectual phenomenon during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The movement stressed reason, tolerance, improvement, and empirical scientific learning to improve society. There were many Enlightenments in the Western world during this period and accounting for the cultural context of different locales is important. The Bibliography provides an essential reading list or syllabus of the texts elite Americans and Europeans of the colonial and early republic periods used to craft their own Enlightenment. Learn more about this project here, search by members here, or learn how to use this guide here.