MEMOIRS AUTHOR VINDICATION

William Godwin's memoir of his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft, marks a transition in Godwin's philosophical development from extreme rationalism to the recognition of the moral importance of feeling and sympathy which was to energize his later writings. The Memoirs also belong to a tradition of biographical writing that sought to transform the consciousness of readers by using individual history as an agent of historical change. Written during the weeks following Wollstonecraft's early death, the Memoirs provide an interpretation of the relations between Wollstonecraft's writings and her personal history, a candid account of her various relationships, and a vindication of her egalitarian intimacy with Godwin. This modern, scholarly edition, geared for student use, includes a wide range of primary sources, encompassing excerpts from Godwin's other writings and from biographical models.