The Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone

Abstract

Hester Chapone (1727–1801) was a British writer and advocate of women's education who is best known as the author of one of the most popular conduct books for women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Self-educated in French, Latin and Greek, Chapone published much of her work after the death of her husband in 1761. Her firm belief in the right of women to lead emotionally and intellectually fulfilled lives was much praised by contemporary feminists. These volumes, first published posthumously in 1807, contain a biography and a series of unpublished letters from Chapone to her friends. Her letters to her friend Samuel Richardson concerning the rights of women in marriage and women's education illustrate her strong views concerning these subjects, with this volume's other letters and her biography providing further valuable insights into her character. Volume 1 contains her letters to Eliza Carter.