Female biography was identified and named by Mary Hays (1759–1843) as a discrete empirical category of knowledge production and analysis while researching figures for the first Enlightenment prosopography of women, Female Biography; Or, memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of all Ages and Countries (R. Phillips, 1803) in six volumes.
The first American edition came in 1807, arranged as three volumes and with minor typographical corrections (Birch & Small, Philadelphia).
The Chawton House Library Edition (or CHLE) was edited by Gina Luria Walker, produced by a collaborative of contemporary scholars representing over 100 institutions in 18 countries and four continents, and contains new annotations and research that contextualize Hays's original sources of information.
Approximately 100 of the subjects listed here were also included in Judy Chicago's 1979 art installation The Dinner Party, either with a place setting at the table or with a ceramic tile in the Heritage Floor.
Hays grouped some subjects together in a single entry (resulting in a total count of 294 entries, but 300 subjects), indicated below with asterisks, all of which have been separately identified by scholars working on the modern edition.