Pure wit the revolutionary life of Margaret Cavendish

"Margaret Cavendish, then Lucas, was born in 1623 to an aristocratic family. In 1644, as England descended into civil war, she joined the court of the formidable Queen Henrietta Maria at Oxford. With the rest of the court she went into self-imposed exile in France. Her family's wealth and lands were...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Peacock, Francesca (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Pegasus Books, 2024.
Edition:First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
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Summary:"Margaret Cavendish, then Lucas, was born in 1623 to an aristocratic family. In 1644, as England descended into civil war, she joined the court of the formidable Queen Henrietta Maria at Oxford. With the rest of the court she went into self-imposed exile in France. Her family's wealth and lands were forfeited by Parliament. It was in France that she met her partner, William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a marriage that made her the Duchess of Newcastle and would remain at the heart of both her life and career. Margaret was a passionate writer. She wrote extensively on gender, science, philosophy, and published under her own name at a time when women simply did not do so. Her greatest work was The Blazing World, published in 1666, a utopian proto-novel that is thought to be one of the earliest works of science fiction that brought together Margaret's talents in poetry, philosophy, and science. Yet hers is a legacy that has long divided opinion, and history has largely forgotten her, an undeserved fate for a brilliant, courageous proto-feminist. In Pure Wit, Francesca Peacock remedies this omission and shines a spotlight on the fascinating, pioneering, yet often complex and controversial life, of the multi-faceted Margaret Cavendish."--Amazon.com
Physical Description:xxiii, 360 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-341) and index.
ISBN:9781639366033
1639366032
Author Notes:Francesca Peacock is an author and arts journalist from London. She writes about books, art, and culture for The Telegraph, The Times, The Spectator, and Prospect , amongst other publications. Pure Wit is her first book.