WOMEN, EDUCATION AND LITERATURE
The Papers of Maria Edgeworth, 1768-1849

Part 1: The Edgeworth Papers from the Bodleian Library, Oxford

Maria Edgeworth is an important figure in the History of the Novel and the History of Education. A contemporary of Jane Austen and Walter Scott she was a pioneer of social realism and helped to develop the regional novel and historical fiction.

This new project provides scholars with immediate access to the original manuscript letters, notebooks and manuscripts and will facilitate a deeper examination of all aspects of her life and work from her education and upbringing, to her reading and her creative works. It brings together the two major Edgeworth collections at the Bodleian Library and the National Library of Ireland as well as further important manuscripts from scattered collections.  It provides a platform for the study of:

• Anglo-Irish Literature
• Female Education
• Literary Life and Society, c.1789-1850
• Women’s Writing and Women’s Reading
• Life in Ireland c.1750-1850
• The History of the Novel

Part 1 covers the Edgeworth Papers from the Bodleian Library, Oxford. These include literary manuscripts, 15 notebooks, and correspondence, mainly for the period from 1818 to 1849.  The archive also offers a great deal of material relating to her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, an important educator and scientist.