Maria Edgeworth (1767–1849)
Author of Castle Rackrent
About the Author
Maria Edgeworth was born in Blackbourton, Oxfordshire, England on January 1, 1767. She was educated at a school in Derby, England and then attended a school in London. In 1782, she went to live with her father at Edgeworthstown and acted as his chief assistant and secretary in the management of his show more estates. She helped educate her brothers and sisters, and the stories she invented for them were later published under the title The Parents Assistant. Her novels and stories fall into three categories: sketches of Irish life, commentary on contemporary English society, and instruction in children's moral training. Her first work, Letters for Literary Ladies, a plea for the reform of woman's education, was published in 1795. She would later collaborate with her father Richard Lovell Edgeworth on Practical Education and Essays on Professional Education. Her first novel, Castle Rackrent, was published in 1800. Her other works include Belinda, Moral Tales, The Absentee, and Helen. During the Irish famine (1845-1847), she did what she could to alleviate the suffering of the Irish peasants including having a large quantity of flour and rice sent over from Boston to give out among the starving. She died in 1849 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Works by Maria Edgeworth
Two Irish National Tales: Castle Rackrent, The Wild Irish Girl (New Riverside Editions) (2005) 22 copies
The little dog Trusty ; The orange man ; and, The cherry orchard : being the tenth part of Early Lessons (1801) (2011) 5 copies
Leonora...In two volumes. Vol. 1 2 copies
tales from maria edgeworth 2 copies
The birth-day present 2 copies
Moral tales and popular tales 2 copies
Harrington and Thoughts on Bores 2 copies
Lazy Lawrence 2 copies
Harry and Lucy: To which are added The little dog Trusty, The cherry orchard, and The orange man 2 copies
Lame Jervas 1 copy
The Prussian Vase 1 copy
RECITS POPULAIRES. 1 copy
The Good French Governess 1 copy
Tales and Novels — Volume 02 1 copy
“The Irish Incognito” 1 copy
Angelina 1 copy
Madame de Fleury 1 copy
The Good Aunt 1 copy
THE PARENTS ASSISTANT 1 copy
The Blue Jar Story Book 1 copy
The barring out. : A tale. 1 copy
Rosamond and other tales ... Retold in easy words chiefly of one syllable by A. Pitt-Kethley ... With 23 illustrations (1917) 1 copy
Selected Tales(2nd series) 1 copy
Maria Edgeworth in France and Switzerland : selections from the Edgeworth family letters (1979) 1 copy
patronage and comic dramas 1 copy
Simple Susan and other tales 1 copy
The Works of Maria Edgeworth 1 copy
Edgeworth, Maria Archive 1 copy
Selections From her Works 1 copy
Contes Moraux de Miss. Edgeworth, Vol. 1: Traduits de L'Anglais (Classic Reprint) (French Edition) (2017) 1 copy
Murad, the unlucky 1 copy
The Works: Maria Edgeworth 1 copy
Leonora Volume II 1 copy
Associated Works
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1994) — Contributor — 447 copies
English short stories of the nineteenth century — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Edgeworth, Maria
- Birthdate
- 1767-01-01
- Date of death
- 1849-05-22
- Burial location
- St. John's Church, Edgeworthstown, Longford, Ireland (family tomb)
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Ireland
- Birthplace
- Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland
- Places of residence
- Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland (death)
Blackbourton, Oxfordshire, England, UK (birth) - Education
- at home
- Occupations
- children's writer
novelist
landowner
social reformer
author
writer - Relationships
- Edgeworth, Richard Lovell (father)
Edgeworth, M. Pakenham (half-brother)
Edgeworth, Francis Ysidro (nephew)
Butler, D. E. (great-great-nephew)
Beddoes, Thomas (brother-in-law)
Beddoes, Thomas Lovell (nephew) (show all 9)
Lazarus, Rachel Mordecai (friend)
Carrington, Leonora (descendant)
Moorhead, Joanna (descendant) - Short biography
- From PBS.org: Maria Edgeworth is often called the "Irish Jane Austen" or the "female Sir Walter Scott," although her writing actually influenced both. Her novels and stories fall into three categories: sketches of Irish life, commentary on contemporary English society, and instruction in children's moral training. Published between 1796 and 1834, her work is characterized by both a Scott-like Romantic attachment to the past and an Austenian wit and rationalism. The English-born Edgeworth was the second of her father's 21 children (by four wives). She was schooled in Derby, England, and then in London. Her father believed that education was central to the construction of the "new" individual of the 18th-century, who would rise on merit rather than birth -- an idea derived from and also spurring the revolutions in politics and philosophy in the late 1700s. In 1782, Maria Edgeworth went to live with her father in Ireland and served as his property manager. Here she collected material for her novels about Irish landlords and peasants, but she also ingested his theories of education. Thirteen years later, Maria Edgeworth's first published work appeared: "Letters for Literary Ladies," a plea for women's education reform. She would later collaborate with her father on Practical Education (1798) and Essays on Professional Education (1809). Maria Edgeworth's first novel, probably her most famous work, Castle Rackrent (1800), was originally published anonymously. During the Irish famine of 1845-1847, she worked arduously for the relief of the Irish peasants.
Members
Discussions
Group read: Belinda by Maria Edgeworth in Virago Modern Classics (March 2019)
Group read: Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth in 75 Books Challenge for 2015 (May 2015)
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- Works
- 157
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