ABSTRACT
The contribution of journalists was critical not only because of the influence they could exercise at the time of a book publication, but also because of the role they played in shaping the opinions of subsequent generations. Their opinions did not remain confined to the columns of their journals: as the press was becoming more influential, journalistic material made its way into the bio-bibliographical histories and dictionaries that were published in the second half of the eighteenth century. Diversity in scope and focus also characterized the bio-bibliographical collections that only featured women. Such praise of women's intellectual activity and particularly of their involvement in the public literary sphere elicited quite an interesting reaction from a woman writer who used Lambert's example to reflect on the status of the female author and express her concerns. Women's involvement with girls and inexperienced female adolescents fulfilled societal expectations and was seen as particularly fitting, while men's was less obviously so.
