Memoirs of modern philosophers
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Memoirs of modern philosophers
（Broadview literary texts）
Broadview Press, c2000
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 415-419)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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
Introduction
Elizabeth Hamilton: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
Author's Advertisement to 3rd edition 1801
Memoirs of Modern Philosophers
Volume I
Volume II
Volume III
Appendix A: Contemporary Works
William Godwin
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on ModernMorals and Happiness
The Enquirer
Mary Hays
Memoirs of Emma Courtney
Appendix B:The Hottentots
Fig 1. The "Hottentot Venus," George Cuvier
Fig 2. A Gonoquais Hottentot
Fig 3. Klaas,The Author's Favourite Hottentot
Fig 4. Female Hottentot
Appendix C: Reviews of Memoirs of Modern Philosophers
Critical Review (May 1800)
British Critic (October 1800)
Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine (September 1800)
Anna Laetitia Barbauld British Novelists (1810)
Select Bibliography
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