Constance E. Plumptre

Constance E. Plumptre (1848–1929) was a writer, philosopher, and historian of religion. Her 1878 work, General Sketch of the History of Pantheism, has been described as 'one of the most significant histories of philosophy ever written'. the daughter of barrister Charles J. Plumptre,

Described as a 'perceptive thinker and author', Her General Sketch of the History of Pantheism, was initially published anonymously, only later reprinted using her name. It has been described as providing 'an erudite but accessible introduction to Oriental, Greek and modern Pantheism'. Her only work of fiction was a historical novel, Giordano Bruno (1884), about the Renaissance philosopher and mathematician burned for heresy in 1600.

Plumptre died on 4 January 1929 in St John's Wood. Her last publication was an essay 'On the Neglected Centenary of Harriet Martineau', which appeared in the Westminster Review in December 1902.

Works

General sketch of the history of pantheism (1878) General Sketch of the History of Pantheism, Volume 2, From the Age of Spinoza to the Commencement of the Nineteenth century (1879) Giordano Bruno: a tale of the sixteenth century (1884) Natural causation; an essay in four parts (1888) Studies in little-known subjects (1898) On the progress of liberty of thought during Queen Victoria's reign (1902)