‘Her genius was undeniable. She had been bred in the hard school of adversity, and having experienced the sorrows entailed on the poor and oppressed, an earnest desire was kindled within her to diminish these sorrows. Her sound understanding, her intrepidity, her sensibility and eager sympathy, stamped all her writings with force and truth, and endorsed them with a tender charm that enchants while it enlightens. She was one whom all loved, who had ever seen her.’
But of course Mary had never seen her mother. She only knew and loved her through her own writings and her father’s intrepid and controversial Memoirs. Such is the dangerous, enduring power of biography.
The text of the Memoirs reprinted here is that of Godwin’s first, uncorrected edition of January 1798, apart from a few spellings that have been modernized. The three passages that Godwin substantially re-wrote for the second edition – concerning Henry Fuseli (Chapter 6), Wollstonecraft’s suicide attempt (Chapter 8), and his summary of Wollstonecraft’s character (Chapter 10) – are given in the Appendix.
| 1756 | (3 March) Birth of William Godwin |
| 1759 | (27 April) Birth of Mary Wollstonecraft |
| 1775 | Wollstonecraft meets Fanny Blood |
| 1785 | Wollstonecraft goes to Lisbon |
| 1786 | Wollstonecraft publishes Thoughts on the Education of Daughters |
| 1788 | Wollstonecraft works as governess in Dublin |
| Wollstonecraft begins writing for the Analytical Review Wollstonecraft publishes Mary: a Fiction (novel) | |
| 1791 | (November) Godwin and Wollstonecraft meet at dinner party in London with Joseph Johnson and Tom Paine |
| 1792 | (January) Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Wollstonecraft intimate with Henry Fuseli (December) Wollstonecraft goes to Paris |
| 1793 | Godwin publishes An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (April) Wollstonecraft meets Gilbert Imlay in Paris |
| 1794 | (May) Fanny Imlay born at Le Havre-Marat Godwin publishes Caleb Williams (novel) |
| 1795 | (April) Wollstonecraft returns to London Wollstonecraft travels in Scandinavia Wollstonecraft makes two suicide attempts in London Wollstonecraft publishes Letters Written during a Short Residence in Norway, Denmark and Sweden |
| 1796 | (April) Wollstonecraft calls upon Godwin |
| 1797 | (March) Godwin and Wollstonecraft marry (30 August) Birth of Mary Godwin (10 September) Death of Mary Wollstonecraft |
| 1798 | (January) Godwin publishes Memoirs of the Author of the Rights of Woman (first edition) (August) Godwin publishes Memoirs (second edition) |
| 1801 | Godwin publishes St Leon (novel) |
| 1814 | Shelley elopes with Mary Godwin |
| 1816 | Fanny Imlay (Godwin) commits suicide |
| 1836 | Death of William Godwin |
| 1853 | Death of Mary Shelley |
| 1892 | Centenary edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Women |
| 1927 | Third edition of Memoirs, edited by William Clark Durant |
It has always appeared to me, that to give the public some account of the life of a person of eminent merit deceased, is a duty incumbent on survivors. It seldom happens that such a person passes through life, without being the subject of thoughtless calumny, or malignant misrepresentation. It cannot happen that the public at large should be on a footing with their intimate acquaintance, and be the observer of those virtues which discover themselves principally in personal intercourse. Every benefactor of mankind is more or less influenced by a liberal passion for fame; and survivors only pay a debt due to these benefactors, when they assert and establish on their part, the honour they loved. The justice which is thus done to the illustrious dead, converts into the fairest source of animation and encouragement to those who would follow them in the same career. The human species at large is interested in this justice, as it teaches them to place their respect and affection, upon those qualities which best deserve to be esteemed and loved. I cannot easily prevail on myself to doubt, that the more fully we are presented with the picture and story of such persons as the subject of the following narrative, the more generally shall we feel in ourselves an attachment to their fate, and a sympathy in their excellencies. There are not many individuals with whose character the public welfare and improvement are more intimately connected, than the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
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