Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Pennell, 1885)

by Elizabeth Robins Pennell

 

Eminent Women Series

EDITED BY JOHN H. INGRAM

 

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT
GODWIN.

 

 

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT
GODWIN

 

BY

ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL

 

LONDON:
W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.

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1885.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W.

 

PREFACE.

Comparatively little has been written about the life of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. The two chief authorities upon the subject are William Godwin and Mr. C. Kegan Paul. In writing the following Biography I have relied chiefly upon the Memoir written by the former, and the Life of Godwin and Prefatory Memoir to the Letters to Imlay of the latter. I have endeavoured to supplement the facts recorded in these books by a careful analysis of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's writings and study of the period in which she lived.

I must here express my thanks to Dr. Richard Garnett, and to Mr. C. Kegan Paul, for the kind assistance they have given me in my work. To the first-named of these gentlemen I am indebted for the loan of a manuscript containing some particulars of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's last illness which have never yet appeared in print, and to the latter for the gift, as well as the loan, of several important books.

E. R. P.

 

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CONTENTS.

 

 

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