Letters for Literary Ladies: To Which is Added, an Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification

Maria Edgeworth

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511732058

One of the foremost authors of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) made the project of women's education the pillar of her career. Letters for Literary Ladies (1795), her first published work, takes up this question in earnest, offering a staunch defence of women's intellectual training and an impassioned warning against its neglect. The first two letters likely draw from an exchange between Richard Edgeworth, Maria's father, and his friend Thomas Day, presenting arguments for and against educating young women in the sciences and philosophy. The 'Letters of Julia and Caroline' illustrate this debate in epistolary form, dramatising both sides of the argument. The final 'Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification' serves as a wry critique of women's own self-deceptions. Complex and provocative, Letters for Literary Ladies demonstrates Edgeworth's early exploration of the subject that would define her career.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend upon the Birth of a Daughter, with the Answer
pp 1-76
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Letters of Julia and Caroline
pp 77-156
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Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification
pp 157-203
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Letters for Literary Ladies

To Which is Added, an Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend upon the Birth of a Daughter, with the Answer
pp 1-76

Letters of Julia and Caroline
pp 77-156

Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification
pp 157-203

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Letters for Literary Ladies

To Which is Added, an Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification

Book description

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Contents

Frontmatter pp i-vi

Contents pp vii-viii

Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend upon the Birth of a Daughter, with the Answer pp 1-76

Letters of Julia and Caroline pp 77-156

Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification pp 157-203

Metrics

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend upon the Birth of a Daughter, with the Answer
pp 1-76

Letters of Julia and Caroline
pp 77-156

Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification
pp 157-203