Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness. 2nd ed. corrected

1796

de Beer Eb 1796 G

London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson

As a complement to the 3rd edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1796), Special Collections secured a 2nd edition of William Godwin’s Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness (1796), a work that openly attacked political institutions. Godwin (1756–1836), a radical philosopher who believed that humanity will inevitably progress, married Wollstonecraft in 1797. In the third person, he wrote in the Preface: ‘It is now twelve years since he became satisfied that monarchy was a species of government essentially corrupt. He owed this conviction to the political writings of Swift and to a perusal of the Latin historians.’ Godwin remains an influential figure in 18th century British literature and literary culture.