This list of women printers and publishers before 1800 includes women active as printers or publishers prior to the 19th century. Before the printing press was invented, books were made from pages written by scribes, and it could take up to a year or two for a book to be completed. Books were a luxury mainly for religious scholars and the upper classes. Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press around 1450, which allowed for mass production of books. Having books become more widely available meant that a wider range of people had access to information, but this threatened the authority of the state. Some printers had their works censored and may have been jailed for disseminating information of which the state did not approve.

Printing required setting type and running the press itself, which could be arduous, as well as bookbinding. Although running the press was considered too physically difficult, many women were able to do all the jobs required to produce a book. Generally, women learned the trade from their fathers or husbands. From the mid-1500s to the mid-1600s, women made up 10% of the printing workforce in London.

Prior to the abolition of the guild system in 19th-century Europe, the most common way for a woman to become a businesswoman was to inherit a business and profession from her late husband, as the guild privilege was by custom granted to the widow of a guild member. This was often the case in regard to women printers and publishers prior to the 19th century.

The list is sorted chronologically, by country:

Belgium (The Austrian Netherlands) Present-day Belgium was among the Low Countries of western Europe, which by the 16th century were "highly urbanized, literate, and cosmopolitan". Collectively known as 'Nederlanders", they shared common cultural roots, including ensuring that they had legal property and contractual rights. During the 16th and 17th centuries, there was significant growth in burgeoning fields, such as art and literature, which provided opportunities for women in the cities. In particular, four women printers ran the family-owned Plantin-Moretus printing house (Plantin Press) over the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries: Martina Plantin, Anna Goos, Anna Maria de Neuf and Maria Theresia Borrekens. According to the Plantin-Moretus Museum, they were largely responsible for company's longevity, and continuity.

Leon Voet, notes that Martina Plantin and her sisters were not isolated cases, and states that "sixteenth-century Italian and Spanish travelers, accustomed to a world where women were barred from public life, repeatedly expressed amazement – and often indignation – in their accounts of the Netherlands at the extensive participation of women and girls in economic activities and their free and easy bearing in public."

Volcxken Diericx (c. 1525 – 1600) was a Flemish print maker and publisher. Martina Plantin (1550–1616) was a printer. At the age of seventeen, she ran the family's lace business and continued to run it after her marriage. She married printer Jan Moretus, and she ran Plantin Press in Antwerp from 1610 to 1614.Voet, Leon, The Golden compasses: a history and evaluation of the printing and publishing activities of the Officina Plantiniana at Antwerp in two volumes, Vangendt, Amsterdam, 1969–1972 She is said to have been the head of the Plantin-Moretus printing dynasty. Anna Goos (1627–1691) was a printer. She was the co-manager of the Plantin Press in Antwerp from 1673 to 1681. She was the widow of Balthasar II Moretus, and the co-manager of the Plantin Press with her son Balthasar III Moretus. Anna Maria de Neuf (1654–1714) was a printer and the manager of the Plantin Press in Antwerp from 1696 to 1714. Maria Theresia Borrekens (1728–1797) ran the Plantin Press in Antwerp from 1765 to 1797, following the death of her husband Franciscus Joannes Moretus.

Bohemia Gutel Kohen of Prague (fl. 1627) was a Jewish-Bohemian printer, active in Prague. She was the daughter of the printer Judah ben Alexander Kohen, who was known as Löb Setzer. A great deal of importance was placed on education within Jewish culture, and many of early printing presses produced Hebrew books. Prague became a center for the publication of Hebrew books, starting with Gershom ben Solomon Kohen, who was the head of the generations of printers.

Denmark

Anna Magdalena Godiche née Høpfner (11 January 1721 – 22 February 1781) was a Danish book printer and publisher. She took over the printing business after her husband died in 1769. She owned the monopoly of printing and publishing the sentences of the de facto regent Johann Friedrich Struensee and Enevold Brandt, who were famously executed in 1772. She specialized in historical works, and printed Andreas Bussæus's Frederik 4.s Dagsregistre (1770), Niels Krag's Christian IIIs Historie (1776–79) and Historiske Efterretninger om velfortiente danske Adelsmænd (1777–79) by Tycho de Hofman. She operated the printing business until her death. Elisabeth Christine Berling (1744–1801) inherited the printing business from her mother Anna Magdalena Godiche.Harald Ilsøe (1992) Bogtrykkerne i København ca. 1600–1810, Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Museum Tusculanums Forlag) .

Finland Catharina Ahlgren (1734 – c. 1800) was a Swedish Proto feminist poet and publisher, and one of the first identifiable female journalists in Sweden. She was the publisher and chief editor of a number of different women's periodicals in Stockholm and in Finland between 1772 and 1783, and the publisher of the first periodical (as well as the first one by a woman) in Finland: Om konsten att rätt behaga (1782).Henrika Zilliacus-Tikkanen: När könet började skriva – Kvinnor i finländsk press 1771–1900 (English: When gender started to write – women in Finnish media 1771–1900)

France

The printing industry was established in France in the 16th century, with Lyon being the first center and later Paris. The names of many widows active in the profession is known from the 16th century, such as Nicole Vostre (fl. 1537), Jeanne Bruneau, and Sibille de La Porte (fl. 1593).Susan Broomhall: Women and the Book Trade in Sixteenth-Century France In the first half of the 17th century, 208 widow printers and publishers were active in France, and during the 17th century, about 540 widows are estimated to have been active within the publishing, printing and retailing book business in France.Anna Bellavitis: Women's Work and Rights in Early Modern Urban Europe Yolande Bonhomme (c. 1490–1557) was a French printer and seller of liturgical and devotional books in Paris. She was among a handful of important female book printers in Paris during this time, including Charlotte Guillard, Francoise Louvain, and Marie L'Angelier. Charlotte Guillard (before 1502–1557) was the first woman printer of importance. Guillard worked at the noted Soleil d'Or printing house from 1502 until her death. She became one of the most important printers of the Latin Quarter area in the city of Paris. She was officially active with her own imprint during her two widowhood periods.Béatrice Craig: Women and Business Since 1500: Invisible Presences in Europe and North America? Madeleine Boursette (fl. 1540–1555), was a French printer. She managed the printing shop of her late spouse Francois Regnault from 1540 to 1555. Louise Giraud (fl. 1544), wife of Étienne Dolet, managed the printing business of her spouse while he was imprisoned for heresy in 1542–1544, and printed at least 13 titles. Jeanne de Marnef (fl. 1545–1547), was a French printer. She managed the printing shop of her late spouse Denys Janot, royal printer of French language publications in Paris. Jeanne de La Saulcée (died 1559), French book printer, active in Lyon. She managed the printing press and bookselling business after the death of her spouse in 1527. Antoinette Peronnet (fl. 1576), was a French printer. She managed the printing shop of her late spouse Gabriel Cotier of Lyons in 1565–1576. Jeanne Giunta (fl. 1577–1584) and her sister Jacqueline Giunta were given dispensation by King Henry III of France to manage the printing business empire of their late father Jacques Giunta of Lyons despite this normally being the privilege only of widows, and printed under their maiden names.Axel Erdmann: My Gracious Silence: Women in the Mirror of 16th Century. p 139, 1999 Françoise de Louvain (died 1620) was a French book printer, active in Paris. She managed a printing press and bookselling business after the death of her spouse in 1610. Marie-Anne Cellier (fl. 1700) was a French publisher. Widowed after the Dutch-French publisher Daniel Horthemels, she continued his publishing business in Paris after his death in 1691.La grande encyclopédie : inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts, 1885–1902 Anne Hussard (circa 1720), known professionally as Veuve Oudot, managed the major publishing and printing business Bibliothèque bleue after the death of her spouse Nicolas Oudot (III). Madame de Beaumer (1720–1766), was a French feminist, journalist and editor.The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe She was the director of the women's magazine Journal des dames (1759–78) in 1761–1763. Madeleine Fauconnier (1725–1784), was a French journalist and editor. She was the director and chief editor of the Nécrologe of Paris in 1764–1782.H.P.L.P.; D.P.1 698; CL. – Delay J., Avant-Mémoires, t. III, La Fauconnier, Paris, Gallimard, 1982. Marguerite Pagès-Marinier (1725–1786), was a French journalist and editor. She was the director and chief editor of the Annonces, affiches et avis divers de Montpellier of Montpellier in 1770–1776.Feyel G., l'Annonce et la Nouvelle : la presse d'information et son évolution sous l'Ancien Régime (1630–1788), thèse U. de Paris IV, 1994 Justine Giroud (1730–1798), was a French journalist and editor. She was the director and chief editor of the Affiches, annonces et avis-divers du Dauphiné of Grenoble in 1774–1792.Maignien E., L'Imprimerie, les imprimeurs et les libraires à Grenoble du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, Grenoble, Drevet, 1885. Catherine Michelle de Maisonneuve (est. c. 1730–1774), was a French feminist, journalist and editor.James Van Horn Melton, The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe She was the director of the women's magazine Journal des dames (1759–78) in 1763–1766. She developed the magazine into one of the most successful Publications in France at the time, and it became famous for its feminist content. Marie-Emilie Maryon de Montanclos (1736–1812), was a French feminist, journalist and editor. She was the director of the women's magazine Journal des dames (1759–78) in 1774–1775. Barbe-Therese Marchand (1745 – fl. 1792), was a French journalist and editor. She was the director and chief editor of the Affiches d'Artois of Arras in 1789–1792.«Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Lenglet», Mémoires de l'Académie d'Arras, t. XVII, 1836, p. 131-198. Louise-Félicité de Kéralio (1757–1821), was a French publisher. On 13 August 1789, she founded le Journal d'État et du Citoyen, thereby becoming the first woman to be editor-in-chief of a journal. Over the next two years, she edited a number of other journals, which were essentially vehicles for her views on society, rights, and the revolution. Anne Félicité Colombe (fl. 1793), was a French printer and publisher, and a political activist during the French Revolution.Dominique Godineau, The Women of Paris and their French Revolution, pp. 67–68 She published the radical journals L'Ami du Peuple and l'Orateur du Peuple.

Germany Anna Rügerin (died after 1484), is considered to be the first female typographer to inscribe her name in the colophon of a book, in the 15th century