Description

Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817) was a noted Irish educationalist, engineer and inventor. This two-volume autobiography, begun in 1808, was published in 1820. Edgeworth had abandoned the project in 1809, having covered the period to 1781, and it was completed after his death by his eldest daughter Maria, a successful novelist who had also co-authored educational works with him. It describes Edgeworth's eventful life, which included four marriages, twenty-two children (of whom thirteen survived him), involvement in the turbulent politics of his time, prize-winning inventions, controversial educational theories, and professional and social networks including Erasmus Darwin, other members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, actors, writers, and not least Sir Joseph Banks, who sponsored his election to the Royal Society. The subject's personality comes across clearly in this readable and fascinating social history of a period of rapid change in Britain and Ireland.