Margaret Fuller

Julia Ward HoweProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.9

Word count: 413K words
Chapters: 42

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Margaret Fuller (Marchesa Ossoli) by Julia Ward HoweAuthor: Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 24, 2010

Editor's review

This is Julia Ward Howe's biography of Margaret Fuller, an early memorial biography. Fuller was an important nineteenth-century American writer, critic, and woman thinker who moved in Transcendentalist circles, later went to Europe and became involved in the Italian revolution, and led a life of considerable drama. Howe belonged to the same era of rich cultural and reformist ferment as Fuller, and her writing carries the respect and defensiveness of a contemporary; the narrative emphasizes life events, spiritual temperament, and intellectual influence rather than cool historical source criticism. The book's value lies in showing how nineteenth-century American intellectual circles regarded a woman public intellectual, and in revealing how early biography shaped a figure's image. Readers should recognize it as a memorial work written from a particular standpoint, and should consult later biographies and scholarship for details of the subject's life and historical assessment. Suitable for readers interested in American literary history, Transcendentalism, and early women's thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American literature and the Transcendentalist movement
General readers concerned with early women intellectuals and gender issues
Those studying the history of biography who want to understand the style of early memorial biography
Readers who need an introductory English-language book on Fuller's life

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a complete, neutral, and thoroughly researched modern scholarly biography
Readers hoping to find selections from Fuller's own works or systematic analysis of her thought
People completely unfamiliar with nineteenth-century American historical background who are unwilling to supplement it

Reading tips

First learn the basic background of Transcendentalism and nineteenth-century American reform movements, then begin the text.
While reading, distinguish factual narrative from the author's respectful, defensive assessments, and make brief notes.
After finishing, find a modern Fuller biography for comparison, to see how the figure's image has been reshaped.
Note the Fuller works mentioned in the book, and read selected originals to form your own judgment.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable as a first book for understanding Fuller?

It can be read as an introductory contemporary biography; it provides an outline of her life and the atmosphere of the era. But it has a memorial and defensive standpoint, and its details and assessments may not be comprehensive, so it is best read alongside a modern biography or Fuller's own works.

What is the relationship between the author and the subject?

Julia Ward Howe belonged to the same nineteenth-century American cultural and reformist milieu as Fuller; they were intellectuals of the same era. Her writing has the respect and memorial quality of a contemporary, so the narrative standpoint is quite distinct, and readers should keep this in mind.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

It is best to first understand the basic situation of the American Transcendentalist movement, nineteenth-century women's education and reform issues, and the general stages of Fuller's life. With this background, the names, events, and assessments in the book will not seem fragmented.

Comments

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About the author

Julia Ward Howe Author · American · 1819–1910

Julia Ward Howe (Howe, Julia Ward, 1819–1910) was an American writer, abolitionist, and women's rights activist, best known for "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," which was widely sung by Union forces during the Civil War. Her writing spans poetry, travel accounts, biography, and political essays, in a clear style animated by moral conviction. Six of her works are held here, including Margaret Fuller, Reminiscences, 1819–1899, A Trip to Cuba, Is Polite Society Polite? and Other Essays, Modern Society, and From the Oak to the Olive: A Plain Record of a Pleasant Journey, commonly classified under inspirational growth. She helped found the American Woman Suffrage Association and in 1908 became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.