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Pioneers in life writing, Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein (1818 ), are now widely regarded as two of the leading writers of the Romantic period. They are both responsible for opening up new possibilities for women in genres traditionally dominated by men.

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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LIVES THAT NEVER GROW OLDThis unique series -- edited by Richard Holmes -- recovers the great classical tradition of English biography. Every book is a biographical masterpiece -- still thrilling to read and vividly alive.The philosopher William Godwin fell in love with and married the radical feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, only to attend her deathbed (giving birth to their child, the late Mary Shelley). Heartbroken, Godwin immediately shut himself up in his study and wrote this intensely moving biography.True to his philosophical belief in absolute sincerity, Godwin coolly describes Wollstonecraft's previous love affairs, her time in revolutionary Paris, her illegitimate child, and her two suicide attempts. The book almost wrecked both their reputations, but can now be seen as a masterpiece of indiscretion and human honesty. ... Read more

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'He does not love ......
.... who can resign this cherised sentiment (that it is of the very essence of affection, to seek to perpetuate itself), without suffering some of the sharpest struggles that our nature is capable of enduring.'

William Godwin, author of "The Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" - perhaps the seminal work of anarchist philosophy -wrote the "Memoirs of the Author of 'The Rights of Women'" to manage the sharpest of struggles that he had to endure when his partner - Mary Wollstonecraft died after bearing their one child - a girl who was also called Mary. She was, of course, to become the famous Mary Shelley - author of "Frankenstein", and much else worthy of reading.

Bearing in mind that this memoir was written by a man still suffering the depths of anguish and grief, it is perhaps understandable that Godwin's judgement was impaired when he wrote in the memoir of things not really acceptable for his era. But then, the man was an anarchist - a believer in the sacredness of every individual to behave as they saw fit - not as constrained by laws or social morals and etiquette.

Today we are less sensitive to the human things Godwin reveals of Wollstonecraft - we are less likely to hide things we are taught to be 'ashamed of' - even if they are natural things. Sadly, Godwin's memoir did have a damaging impact on Wollstonecraft's reputation after her death (although it's my guess many men might have been looking for any excuse to denigrate someone championing women's liberation at that time). It's perhaps true that Godwin's own reputation was damaged (although there were probably plenty at the time who were happy to denigrate an anarchist too!).

There are some great sentiments expressed in this memoir, such as my quote in the heading, but I did see Godwin as a little colder than I might have liked. For example, in the grief of Wollstonecraft's death he does not reflect on his daughter and the potential she carried. Perhaps that might in part explain how damaged Shelley was by her mother's death - believing that in some way it was her fault.

Other recommendations:

William Godwin - Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
William Godwin - Caleb Williams
Mary Shelley/Mary Wollstonecraft - Mary/Maria/Matilda
Mary Shelley - Transformation
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Percy Shelley - Zastrozzi
George Eliot - Adam Bede


... Read more

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MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN. INTRODUCTION. Few women have worked so faithfully for the cause of humanity as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and few have been the objects of such censure. She devoted herself to the relief of her suffering fellow-beings with the ardour of a Saint Vincent de Paul, and in return she was considered by them a moral scourge of God. Because she had the courage to express opinions new to her generation, and the independence to live according to her own standard of right and wrong, she was denounced as another Messalina. The young were bidden not to read her books, and the more mature warned not to follow her example, the miseries she endured being declared the just retribution of her actions. Indeed, the infamy attached to her name is almost incredible in the present age, when new theories are more patiently criticised, and when purity of motive has been accepted as the vindication of at least one well-known breach of social laws. The malignant attacks 1

Table of Contents

Introduction ; CHAPTER I-Childhood and Early Youth 1759-; 1778; CHAPTER II-First Years of Work 1778-1785 20; CHAPTER III-Life as Governess 1786-1788 CHAPTER IV-Literary Life 1788-1791 CHAPTER V-Literary Work 1788-1791 CHAPTER VI-"Vindication of the Rights of; Women "; CHAPTER VII-Visit to Paris 1792-1793 CHAPTER VIII-Life with Imlay 1793-1794 CHAPTER IX-Imlay's Desertion 1794-1795 CHAPTER X-Literary Work 1793-1796 CHAPTER XL-Retrospective 1794-1796 CHAPTER XII-William Godwin CHAPTER XIII-Life with Godwin : Marriage; 1796-1797 ; CHAPTER XIV-Last Months : Death 1797; PAGE 1; 5; 44 65; 83; 90 101 122 135 151 163 168; 185 197

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Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.

Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology ... Read more

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The letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley reveal a remarkable woman living in a remarkable age. They date from October 1814--shortly after her elopement with Percy Bysshe Shelley--through September 1850, five months before her death. Her correspondents' names are familiar--Shelley himself, Byron, Bulwer-Lytton, Disraeli, General Lafayette, Sir Walter Scott--and the letters abound with anecdotes about such eminent figures as her parents (William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft), Keats, Washington Irving, and Charles and Mary Lamb.

Publication of the widely acclaimed, three-volume edition of Mary Shelley's letters was completed in 1988, containing all 1,276 of her known extant letters. Now Betty T. Bennett has selected 230 of those letters to give an overview of Mary Shelley's life as she was seeing it, living it, and recording it. Bennett also includes an introductory essay that sketches a portrait of Mary Shelley, her world, and her place in the history of literature and letters.

Customer Reviews (1)

In Depth Study of a Classic Author
This book provides a fascinating look into the life of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly.By reading actual letters written by Mary, to various important people in her life, you gain access to what her life outside the realm of literary circles was like.The author of this book adds interesting conjecture as to what the content of the letters means when clarity is needed or when certain facts aren't available.If you are interested in Mary's life & are looking for more than just a biography, "Selected Letters of" has much to offer.One star demerit for too little information from the time of her visit to Lord Byron at Lake Geneva in the Summer of 1816.Maybe there are fewer letters available from that time.But that's the time frame I am most interested in. ... Read more

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Mary Wollstonecraft is indisputably a major thinker in education. Susan Laird's volume offers the most coherent account of Wollstonecraft's educational thought. This work is divided into:

1. Intellectual biography
2. Critical exposition of Wollstonecraft's work
3. The reception and influence of Wollstonecraft's work
4. The relevance of the work today ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: London, New York [etc.] : Longmans, Green ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is one of the true pioneers in the literature of women's rights.Not only was she the mother of Mary Shelley, author of the gothic horror classic, "Frankenstein", Godwin was a prolific writer and a unique voice for her era.

This newly published bibliography is a second, expanded and corrected edition and includes not only her works and translations, but all known works about Mrs. Godwin and a chronology of her life. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Mary Wollstonecraft's Social and Aesthetic Philosophy examines Wollstonecraft's attempts to revise representations of women to give them a more active role in public life. Combining history of ideas with close textual reading, Bahar insists that Wollstonecraft's political claims cannot be separated from her desire to develop more convincing aesthetic representations of women.
... Read more

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Tauchert revisits the work of Mary Wollstonecraft through the lenses of sexual difference theory to pose the question of one woman's struggle against abstract masculinism. Caught between discourses of European Enlightenment, political revolution, Romanticism, and feminist theory, Wollstonecraft is central to Millenial feminism's self-imagining. Under the pressure of sexual difference theory, her writings reveal a movement between "Athenic" and "Matrilineal" modes of female subjectivity. ... Read more

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A state-of-the-art critique of one of the "Founding Mothers"
Ashley Tauchert has brought the best of contemporary feminist scholarship to bear on Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the mothers of feminism.I was fortunate to get a copy of this book just before my own recent biography, "Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy" (Corinthian Books, 2002) went to press.Vice President Aaron Burr, for all his flaws, was the first prominent American man to enthusiastically embrace and publicly endorse Wollstonectaft's radical feminist views on the equal education of women.He used her principles to give his teenage daughter, Theodosia, a "man's education" which would equip her for the three roles in life he envisioned for her: queen, president, or empress.Although Tauchert's work deals with the cutting edge of contemporary feminist theory and my own work dealt with how Wollstonecraft's philosophies affected the education of Vice President Aaron Burr's daughter more than a century ago, I found Ms. Tauchert'swork extremely insightful and enormously useful in understanding Wollstonecraft herself and the theories she conceptualized which were used to shape Theodosia Burr Alston's life in the mid-to-late 1790s. -- Richard N. Côté ... Read more