The Period of the Renaissiince hjis ever been so attractive to the historian that many learned volumes have been written on the subject, and it has bmn illustrated by much brilliant eloquence. An army of patient students have devoted long years to serious research, in hunting out forgotten treasures buried in foreign libraries, archives, chronicles, diaries, and letters innumerable. Yet I venture to hope that there may still be room for a modest attempt to bring some of these vast stores of knowledge - more especially as they touch upon woman's life - within reach of those readers who have no leisure for profound and special study. To them I would dedicate these sketches of some typical women of the Italian Renaissance, which may be regarded as brief appreciations, rather than full and complete biographies.