This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

A novel of manners and conversation in the patrician social mielieu of England and London in the 1820's and 1803's. It begins as a novel of courtship, destined to end with the happy betrothal of its heroine, the orphaned Helen Stanley, but it soon turns into the story of Helen's friend Lady Cecilia Clarendon, and the crumbling of her marriage as her beguiling and harmless lies, not told in malice, becomes self-destructive to those whom she loves

When a long-time servant of the Rackrent family decides to write about family members whom he has served, the result is a stylishly entertaining exploration of master/servant relationships. Edgeworth's brilliant satire of early-19th-century Anglo-Irish landlords pioneered the regional novel and changed the focus of conflict in Ireland from religion to class.

The esteemed contemporary of Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott, Maria Edgeworth was a pioneer writer of children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe, whose works depict advanced views on the rights of women, politics, education and her beloved Ireland. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete novels of Maria Edgeworth, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing for the first time in digital print, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Edgeworth's life and works
* Concise introductions to the novels and other texts
* ALL 9 novels, with individual contents tables
* Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Many short story collections – including the classic children’s collections EARLY LESSONS and FRANK, appearing here for the first time in digital print
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the short stories
* Also includes the rare short story collection THE MOST UNFORTUNATE DAY OF MY LIFE AND OTHER STORIES, which was published posthumously
* Easily locate the short stories you want to read
* Edgeworth’s plays and a selection of non-fiction
* Includes Edgeworth's letters - spend hours exploring the author’s personal correspondence, with detailed table of contents
* Features two biographies, including a selection of her husband’s memoirs - explore Edgeworth's literary life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres

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CONTENTS:

The Novels
CASTLE RACKRENT
BELINDA
THE MODERN GRISELDA
LEONORA
PATRONAGE
HARRINGTON
ORMOND
HELEN
ORLANDINO

The Shorter Fiction
THE PARENT’S ASSISTANT
HARRY AND LUCY: BEING THE FIRST PART OF EARLY LESSONS
MORAL TALES
POPULAR TALES
TALES OF FASHIONABLE LIFE
FRANK: A SEQUEL OF EARLY LESSONS
GARRY OWEN; OR, THE SNOW-WOMAN, AND OTHER STORIES
THE LITTLE DOG TRUSTY; THE ORANGE MAN; AND THE CHERRY ORCHARD
THE MOST UNFORTUNATE DAY OF MY LIFE AND OTHER STORIES

The Short Stories
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Plays
COMIC DRAMAS IN THREE ACTS

The Letters
THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF MARIA EDGEWORTH

The Non-Fiction
PRACTICAL EDUCATION
ESSAY ON IRISH BULLS
AN ESSAY ON THE NOBLE SCIENCE OF SELF-JUSTIFICATION

The Biographies
RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH: A SELECTION FROM HIS MEMOIRS
MARIA EDGEWORTH by Helen Zimmern

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On the eve of his coming of age, a young Lord begins to see the truth of his parents' lives: his mother cannot buy her way into society no matter how hard he tries, and his father is being ruined by her continued attempts. The young Lord then travels to his home in Ireland, encountering adventure on the way, and discovers that the native residents are being exploited in his father's absence.

Thady Quirk, devoted steward to the decaying estate of the Rackrent family, narrates a riotous story of four generations of a dying dynasty in Castle Rackrent (1800). Thady will defend his masters to the end, but eventually his naivety and blind loyalty cause him to ignore the warning signs as the family's excesses lead them to ruin. This volume also includes Ennui, the entertaining 'confessions' of the Earl of Glenthorn, a bored, spoiled aristocrat. Desperate to be free from 'the demon of ennui', Glenthorn's quest for happiness takes him through violence and revolution, and leads to intriguing twists of fate. Both novels offer a darkly comic and satirical exposé of the Irish class system, and a portrait of a nation in turmoil.

Harrington (1817) is the personal narrative of a recovering anti-Semite, a young man whose phobia of Jews is instilled in early childhood and who must unlearn his irrational prejudice when he falls in love with the daughter of a Spanish Jew. In this novel, Edgeworth attempts to challenge prejudice and to show how literary representations affect public policy, while at the same time interrogating contemporary understandings of freedom in English society. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and a judicious selection of appendices, including correspondence between Edgeworth and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus, excerpts from John Toland's Letters to Serena and Reasons for Naturalizing the Jews, an excerpt from Isaac D'Israeli's article on Moses Mendelssohn, and contemporary reviews of the novel.

The Castle Rackrent estate is owned by four generations of Englishmen, each dissipated, cruel or improvident in some way. Their lives are chronicled by the estate's Irish steward, Thady Quirk. He is one of the first examples in literature of the unreliable narrator, and as the story progresses we see how the estate is kept from ruin by Quirk's son - to his own advantage and benefit.

Maria Edgeworth won the admiration of her contemporary Jane Austen, as well as later writers such as Thackeray and Turgenev, and in Belinda (1801) she tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking. Braving the perils of the marriage market, Belinda learns to think for herself as the examples of her friends prove singularly unreliable. Edgeworth's varied cast includes the bewitching aristocrat, Lady Delacour, whose dreadful secret puts her in the power of her volatile servant; the dashing Creole gentleman, Mr Vincent who almost succeeds in winning Belinda's hand if not her heart; the eccentric Clarence Hervey, whose attempts to create an ideal wife backfire; and the outrageous Harriet Freke, whose antics as social outlaw land her in a mantrap. This lively comedy challenges the conventions of courtship, examines questions of female independence, and exposes the limits of domesticity. The text used in this edition (1802) also confronts the difficult and fascinating issues of racism and mixed marriage, which Edgeworth toned down in later editions. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Set in Ireland prior to its achieving legislative independence from Britain in 1782, Castle Rackrent tells the story of three generations of an estate-owning family as seen through the eyes--and as told in the voice--of their longtime servant, Thady Quirk, recorded and commented on by an anonymous Editor.  This edition of Maria Edgeworth's first novel is based on the 1832 edition, the last revised by her, and includes Susan Kubica Howard's foot-of-the-page notes on the text of the memoir as well as on the notes and glosses the Editor offers "for the information of the ignorant English reader."  Howard’s Introduction situates the novel in its political and historical context and suggests a reading of the novel as Edgeworth's contribution to the discussion of the controversial Act of Union between Ireland and Britain that went into effect immediately after the novel’s publication in London in 1800.

The lively comedy of this novel in which a young woman comes of age amid the distractions and temptations of London high society belies the challenges it poses to the conventions of courtship, the dependence of women, and the limitations of domesticity. Contending with the perils and the varied cast of characters of the marriage market, Belinda strides resolutely toward independence. Admired by her contemporary, Jane Austen, and later by Thackeray and Turgenev, Edgeworth tackles issues of gender and race in a manner at once comic and thought-provoking.