Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn her edition and translation of writings by Marie-Geneviève-Charlotte Thiroux d’Arconville (1720–1805), Julie Candler Hayes provides an important look at a remarkable woman writer, thinker, and scientist. D’Arconville was a “true woman of the Enlightenment” — a woman of wide-ranging interests, concerned with moral, societal, and philosophical issues, such as the role of self-love (
amour-propre), perspectives on history, and the value of friendship versus marriage. Her published writings are extremely significant, but perhaps even more intriguing are the recently rediscovered manuscript texts that she wrote late in life, offering a glimpse into the mind of this fascinating woman who was married at a very early age, took charge of her own education, and outlived the Revolution.
—Sharon Diane Nell
Professor of French and Dean of the School of Humanities, St. Edward’s University"In her edition and translation of writings by Marie-Geneviève-Charlotte Thiroux d’Arconville (1720–1805), Julie Candler Hayes provides an important look at a remarkable woman writer, thinker, and scientist. D’Arconville was a 'true woman of the Enlightenment' of wide-ranging interests, concerned with moral, societal, and philosophical issues, such as the role of self-love (
amour-propre), perspectives on history, and the value of friendship versus marriage. Her published writings are extremely significant, but perhaps even more intriguing are the recently rediscovered manuscript texts that she wrote late in life, offering a glimpse into the mind of this fascinating woman who was married at a very early age, took charge of her own education, and outlived the Revolution."
-- Sharon Diane Nell, St. Edward’s University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Part One: Published Works, 1756–1783 23
Dedicatory epistle and translator’s note 25
Discourse on Chemistry 30
Discourse on Osteology 75
Thoughts and Moral Reflections, excerpts 84
Treatise on Friendship, excerpts 102
Discourse on Putrefaction 113
Preface to The Life of Marie de Médicis 126
Preface to The History of François II 134
Part Two: Late Manuscripts, 1801–1805 141
Thoughts, Reflections, and Anecdotes, excerpts 143
Bibliography 231
Index 241
