Jane Lead, also Leade (née Ward) (1624–1704) was one of the most prolific female authors of the late seventeenth century, a mystic and leader of the Philadelphians, a dissenting religious group. Her writings propose a radical vision of the second coming in which there will be an androgyne God combining both male and female traits. She also argues for the spiritual importance of the imagination and the senses, rather than materialistic reason. Later in life she sank into poverty and obscurity, but the unlikely popularity of her translated works in Germany led to her finding a patron who enabled her to publish extremely widely in the last few years of her life.