Staël, Madame de (Anne-Louise-Germaine), 1766-1817
“So far as it has been published, and it has now reached its ninth
volume, the Famous Women Series is rather better on the whole than
the English Men of Letters Series. One had but to recall the names
and characteristics of some of the women with whom it deals,—literary
women, like Maria Edgeworth, Margaret Fuller, Mary Lamb, Emily Brontë,
George Eliot, and George Sand; women of the world (not to mention the
other parties in that well-known Scriptural firm), like the naughty but
fascinating Countess of Albany; and women of philanthropy, of which the
only example given here so far is Mrs. Elizabeth Fry,—one has but to
compare the intellectual qualities of the majority of English men of
letters to perceive that the former are the most difficult to handle,
and that a series of which they are the heroines is, if successful, a
remarkable collection of biographies. We thought so as we read Miss
Blind’s study of George Sand, and Vernon Lee’s study of the Countess
of Albany, and we think so now that we have read Mrs. Elizabeth Robins
Pennell’s study of Mary Wollstonecraft, who, with all her faults, was
an honor to her sex. She was not so considered while she lived, except
by those who knew her well, nor for years after her death; but she is
so considered now, even by the granddaughters of the good ladies who so
bitterly condemned her when the century was new. She was notable for
the sacrifices that she made for her worthless father and her weak,
inefficient sisters, for her dogged persistence and untiring industry,
and for her independence and her courage. The soul of goodness was in
her, though she would be herself and go on her own way; and if she loved
not wisely, according to the world’s creed, she loved too well for her
own happiness, and paid the penalty of suffering. What she might have
been if she had not met Capt. Gilbert Imlay, who was a scoundrel, and
William Godwin, who was a philosopher, can only be conjectured. She was
a force in literature and in the enfranchisement of her sisterhood, and
as such was worthy of the remembrance which she will long retain through
Mrs. Pennell’s able memoir.”—_R. H. Stoddard, in the Mail and Express._
_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of
price by the publishers_, ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON
* * * * *
_Messrs. Roberts Brothers’ Publications._
Famous Women Series.
HARRIET MARTINEAU.
BY MRS. F. FENWICK MILLER.
16mo. Cloth. Price $1.00.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account