A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (Broadview Literary Texts) [Paperback]

Mary Astell (Author), Patricia Springborg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1551113066 | ISBN-13: 978-1551113067 | Publication Date: March 21, 2002 | Edition: First Edition

Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is one of the most important and neglected works advocating the establishment of women's academies. Its reception was so controversial that Astell responded with a lengthy sequel, also in this volume. The cause of great notoriety, Astell's Proposal was imitated by Defoe in his "An Academy for Women," parodied in the Tatler, satirized on the stage, plagiarized by Bishop Berkeley, and later mocked by Gilbert and Sullivan in Princess Ida.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Patricia Springborg has given us a thoroughly contextualized edition of Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies: Parts I and II. Her explanatory annotations as well as her knowledgeable exposition of Astell's philosophical positions make available again these landmark texts...and the well-chosen supplementary materials demonstrate Astell's immediate impact on the intellectual circles of late seventeenth-century London." (Ruth Perry )

"This new edition of Astell's A Serious Proposal offers readers welcome access to the eloquence, argumentative skill, and wit of Astell's powerful defense of women's education and of their intellectual abilities." (Martine Watson Brownley )

"Springborg's introduction clearly places Astell's work in the context of two important early eighteenth-century crosscurrents, the 'woman' question and the debate over empirical rationalism. She grounds Astell's writings in the tradition of imagining intellectual communities of and for women but Springborg also usefully sets them in the context of the larger philosophical debates over Locke's epistemology of environmental conditioning and psychological sensationalism. Thus, Astell takes her place again among the voices of the Cambridge Platonists and the supporters of the Port Royal School in this defining debate touching education and politics, both national and domestic. The inclusion of four appendices (Drake's "Essay in Defence of the Female Sex," Defoe's "An Essay upon Projects," and two essays from the Tatler commenting on Astell) make this a splendid package." (Margaret J.M. Ezell )

From the Publisher

The Broadview Literary Texts series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Literary Texts series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Broadview Press; First Edition edition (March 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551113066
• ISBN-13: 978-1551113067
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #850,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Serious Proposal, parts 1 and 2, March 30, 2000

By 

Montagu "Montagu" (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (Pickering Women's Classics) (Pt. 1 & 2) (Hardcover)

Mary Astell is one of the first European females to write directly on issues of philosophy, politics, and rhetoric; like other women writers she also writes about religion and morality, as she proposes the foundation of an educational/religious institution for single ladies. This book has complete editions of both books 1 and 2 of Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (1694, 1697), with facsimiles of the original title pages, extensive footnotes, an excellent introduction, bibliography, and an index at the back. The introduction is an excellent overview of Astell's political and philosophical context. Of particular interest is Springborg's coverage of Astell's debates with John Locke, and Astell's use of Descartes and the Port-Royal Logic. Springborg also draws connections between Astell and Daniel Defoe, Richard Steele, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Samuel Richardson, and others. This book is a must for anyone interested in women's contributions to philosophy, education, religion, or politics in the English enlightenment.