'Une société savante exclusivement féminine: présage des temps modernes ou vestige de l'Ancien Régime?', in: Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française (2001) nr.4, p.117-128 In the context of a learned society reserved exclusively for ladies, this article monitors sociability in a small town of Zeeland and examines to what extent it symbolized or not the passage to modernity and sexual equality. The study of natural sciences, physics in particular, collectively undertaken by women would at first glance appear revolutionary. But was this really so? A visit to the meeting-place where the weekly demonstrations were held may shed some light on the subject. Observation of the main features shows that the Ladies' Society for Natural Sciences founded in Middelburg in 1785 was rather premodern than modern in character - except perhaps for the social separation of the sexes which seemed to forebode the much discussed 'separate spheres' of the nineteenth century. The conclusion of the article furthermore suggests that it was possibly its premodern character which surprisingly guaranteed the continuation of the society's activities until 1887 when it was finally disbanded.