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"For if at any time there can be an excuse for the rashness of a Woman (MGA), who ventures to aspire to the subtleties of a science, which knows no bounds, not even those of infinity itself, it certainly should be at this glorious period, in which a Woman reigns, and reigns with universal applause and admiration.  Indeed, I am fully convinced, that in this age, an age which, from your reign, will be distinguished to latest posterity, every Woman ought to exert herself, and endeavor to promote the glory of her sex, and to contribute her utmost to increase that luster, which it happily receives from Your Majesty....."

and thanking her teacher . . . . .

"For it is very well known that persons able and willing to teach it (mathematics) are not found in every city . . . . and every one that would be glad to learn has not the means to travel into distant countries in quest of proper masters.  This I know of my own experience, as I must ingeniously confess; for, notwithstanding the strong inclination I had for this science (mathematics), and the great application I made use to acquire it, I might still have been lost in the maze of inextricable difficulties, had I not been assisted by the secure guidance and sage direction of the very learned Professor Don Ramio Rampinelli, Monk of the Olivetan Order, and now Professor of Mathematics in the University of Pavia."

The following are some quotes about Agnesi or about her work. . . .

"This work is characterized by its careful organization, its clarity, and its precision.  There is no other book, in any language, which would enable a reader to penetrate as deeply, or as rapidly, into the fundamental concepts of analysis.  We consider this treatise the most complete and best written work of its kind."

From the 1749 review of  Instituzioni analitiche published by the French Academy of Sciences.  Her two volume publication won immediate acclaim among mathematicians all over Europe.

"Mlle. Agnesi's work is "claire & précise"....  Messieurs d'Alembert and le Marquis De Condorcet of "l'Académie Royale des Sciences" recommend the translation of Instituzioni analitiche into French.  The editor ends the introduction with the suggestion that the reader should see  "Calcul intégral de M. Euler" and the works of "M. le Marquis de Condorcet."

...and from the Additions de L Éditeur on p. 478 at the end of the book,.... "Mlle. Agnesi has given several methods that cover a large number of cases", but this edition" gives other integrals that are charactericstic of M. Euler."

 From the French translation of the second volume published in Paris on August 20, 1775, or 27 years after the original Instituzioni analitiche was released in Italian. The book was obviously highly respected.

Marble bust carved by Giuseppe Franchi  (1731 - 1806)  in 1795 on the basis of a clay bust modelled from life in 1781.