MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT.

BY

ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL.

BOSTON:
ROBERTS BROTHERS.
1890.

Copyright, 1884,
By Roberts Brothers.

University Press:John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.

PREFACE.

Comparatively little has been written about the life of MaryWollstonecraft. The two authorities upon the subject are Godwin and Mr.C. Kegan Paul. In writing the following Biography I have relied chieflyupon the Memoir written by the former, and the Life of Godwin andPrefatory Memoir to the Letters to Imlay of the latter. I have endeavoredto supplement the facts recorded in these books by a careful analysis ofMary Wollstonecraft’s writings and study of the period in which shelived.

I must here express my thanks to Mr. Garnett, of the British Museum, andto Mr. C. Kegan Paul, for the kind assistance they have given me in mywork. To the first named of these gentlemen I am indebted for the loan ofa manuscript containing some particulars of Mary Wollstonecraft’s lastillness which have never yet appeared in print, and to Mr. Paul for thegift, as well as the loan, of several important books.

E. R. P.

London, August, 1884.

CONTENTS.