Memoirs of Modern Philosophers

by Hamilton, Elizabeth; Grogan, Claire

• ISBN13: 9781551111483
• ISBN10: 1551111489
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

When the Anti-Jacobin Review described Memoirs of Modern Philosophers in 1800 as "the first novel of the day" and as proof that "all the female writers of the day are not corrupted by the voluptuous dogmas of Mary Godwin, or her more profligate imitators," they clearly situated Elizabeth Hamilton's work within the revolutionary debate of the 1790s. As with her successful first novel, Letters of a Hindoo Rajah, Hamilton uses fiction to enter the political fray and discuss issues such as female education, the rights of woman and new philosophy.The novel follows the plight of three heroines. The mock heroine, Bridgetina Botherim-a crude caricature of Mary Hays-participates in an English-Jacobin group, leading her to abandon her mother and home to pursue her beloved to London in hopes of emigrating to the Hottentots in Africa. The second heroine, Julia Delmont, is another member of the local group; she is seduced by a hairdresser masquerading as a New Philosopher. She is left pregnant and destitute only to discover that her actions caused her father's untimely death. The third heroine is the virtuous Harriet, whose Christian faith enables her to resist the teachings of the New Philosophers.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	6	(9)
Introduction	9	(18)
A Brief Chronology	27	(2)
Elizabeth Hamilton
A Note on the Text	29	(1)
Author's Advertisement to 3rd edition 1801	30	(1)
Memoirs of Modern Philosophers
Volume I	31	(118)
Volume II	149	(128)
Volume III	277	(114)
Appendix A: Contemporary Works
1. William Godwin
A. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Modern Morals and Happiness	391	(4)
B. The Enquirer	395	(2)
2. Mary Hays
A. Memoirs of Emma Courtney	397	(5)
Appendix B: The Hottentots
Fig 1. The ``Hottentot Venus,'' George Cuvier	402	(1)
Fig 2. A Gonoquais Hottentot	403	(1)
Fig 3. Klaas, The Author's Favourite Hottentot	404	(1)
Fig 4. Female Hottentot	405	(2)
Appendix C: Reviews of Memoirs of Modern Philosophers
i. Critical Review (May 1800)	407	(1)
ii. British Critic (October 1800)	408	(1)
iii. Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine (September 1800)	409	(4)
iv. Anna Laetitia Barbauld British Novelists (1810)	413	(2)
Select Bibliography	415