Description
Book SynopsisThis edition features a shrewd, annotated abridgment of Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) accompanied by an array of texts that help situate the Vindication in its political, historical, and intellectual contexts. Included are key selections from Wollstonecraft's other writings; from closely related works by Burke, Paine, Godwin, Rousseau, Macaulay, Talleyrand, and Brockden Brown; and from the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and de Gouges' Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen (1791).
Trade ReviewA thoughtful and useful abridgement of an essential historical, political, and philosophical text. [Barnard and Shapiro] have managed to preserve the tone and arguments of the original while shedding much of the redundancy and lengthy quotations of external sources that can be off-putting and cumbersome for today's readers. The explanatory footnotes added to the text are helpful without being overbearing. --Katrin Schultheiss, George Washington University
A very judicious selection from the Vindication, and the related texts do a great job of setting Wollstonecraft's arguments within contemporary debates about women's education and, more broadly, eighteenth-century political philosophy. The editorial apparatus is also thorough and useful--especially the notes, which are outstanding. In short, the editors have created a fresh and stimulating new edition of Wollstonecraft's Vindication that will be infinitely useful in the classroom. --Sarah Gwyneth Ross, Boston College
