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British and Commonwealth Literary Studies
Women, Education and Literature: The Papers of Maria Edgeworth,
1768-1849
The Collection
Location: Green Library, Media-Microtexts
Call Number: MFILM N.S. 14303
Size: Part one - 25 microfilm reels, Part two - 20 microfilm reels.
Content: Microfilm copies of literary manuscripts, correspondence,
and miscellaneous papers of the author. The collection combines the two
major collections of her work at the Bodelian Library and the National
Library of Ireland as well as important manuscripts from other collections.
Finding Guide: The guide for part 1 is reproduced on part. 1,
reel 1; the guide for part 2 is reproduced on part 2, reel 1. There
is
also a printed guide on the Periodical Reference shelf under the call
number PR4646 .A35.
Career of Maria Edgworth
Born in Oxfordshire, Ireland to Richard Lovell Edgeworth in 1768. Maria
Edgeworth was the product of her father's progressive theories of education
which she later articulated in Practical Education (1798) and Essays
on Professional Education (1809), which advocated equal rights to
education for women. She had also become the best known novelist in England
by the start of the nineteenth century. A pioneer of social realism, her
novels represent a significant contribution to the literature of class,
race, and gender. Her writings fall into three groups: those based on
Irish life, such as the comic masterpiece, Castle Rackrent (1800),
considered to be the first true historical novel in English; those depicting
contemporary English society, such as Belinda (1801); and lessons
and stories for children, such as Moral Tales (1801).
Highlights and Research Potential of the Papers
The collection contains copies of manuscripts and diaries of Maria Edgeworth
dating from childhood, extensive correspondence of the author with family
members, and significant literary figures of the era. Correspondents include
Sir Walter Scott, Joanna Baille, Archbishop Howley, Leigh Hunt, and others.
Also included is contemporary criticism of her work, financial and estate
papers genealogical notes, drawings, and photographs.
Selected Biography and Criticism
Butler, Marilyn. Maria Edgeworth: A Literary Biography. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1972.
Harden, Elizabeth. Maria Edgeworth. Boston: Twayne Publishers,
1984.
Last modified:
July 12, 2006
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