We examine the varieties of representations of women who desired other women in Western Europe from the 15th-17th centuries. Focusing on England and Italy, with forays into France, Germany, Spain and Holland, we will read early modern texts (poems, drama, opera, mythology, paintings, domestic artifacts, pornography, and medical writing), as well as contemporary theorizing about lesbianism. Charting continuities and discontinuities between early modern conceptions and contemporary ones, we investigate the extent to which a coherent history of lesbianism exists. Estimate cost of materials: $50 or more, but less than $100. IV. 3.