William Godwin
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WILLIAM GODWIN “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project William Godwin HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1756 March 3, Wednesday: William Godwin was born in Wisbech in the Cambridgeshire Fens. The Reverend John Godwin, his father, was the minister of Wisbech Independent Chapel and his mother Ann Hull had originated in a well- to-do family (they had several ships trading on the Baltic Sea). GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT William Godwin “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1758 The family of origin of William Godwin relocated from the Fens of England to Debenham near Suffolk. LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project William Godwin HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1759 April 27, Friday: Mary Wollstonecraft was born in Spitalfields, London. FEMINISM THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project William Godwin HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1760 The family of origin of William Godwin relocated from Debenham near Suffolk to Guestwich near Norwich, where the Reverend John Godwin would, for a dozen years, until his death, be minister of the Independent Meeting House. THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project William Godwin HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1767 William Godwin was sent to Norwich where he would be the sole student of the Reverend Samuel Newton. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT William Godwin “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1772 November: The Reverend John Godwin, father of William Godwin, died. HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1773 William Godwin went to London and applied for admission to the Homerton Academy (his application would be rejected because of his adherence to Sandemanian views, after which he would spent several months with relatives in Kent). SANDEMANIANISM September: William Godwin was admitted to the dissenting “Coward’s Trust Academy” at Hoxton, where for five years he would be tutored by the Reverend Mr. Andrew Kippis, D.D. DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD. William Godwin “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1778 May: William Godwin left the school at Hoxton to take up the functions of Minister in the small town of Ware in Hertfordshire. There he would meet the Reverend Joseph Fawcet. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1779 August: William Godwin relocated from Ware in Hertfordshire to London, where for four months he would lodge near Cripplegate. HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1780 William Godwin relocated from London to Stowmarket in Suffolk, where he was introduced to the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Claude Adrien Helvétius, and Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, and converted from Sandemanianism to Deism. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1782 William Godwin, who had a couple of years earlier converted from Sandemanianism to Deism, in this year converted from Deism to Socinianism. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF May: William Godwin relocated from Stowmarket in Suffolk to London. December: William Godwin relocated from London to Beaconsfield. William Godwin “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1783 For seven months, at Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, William Godwin served as the minister of the Socinian congregation. January: Anonymous publication of William Godwin’s HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR AND SOLD BY G. K EARSLEY (London). July: William Godwin returned to London, residing in Holborn and beginning to earn his living as a writer. August 4, Monday: William Godwin’s AN ACCOUNT OF THE SEMINARY THAT WILL BE OPENED ON MONDAY THE FOURTH DAY OF AUGUST AT EPSOM IN SURREY (London: T. Cadell). The venture, for a dozen students, would not materialize. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1784 William Godwin’s SKETCHES OF HISTORY IN SIX SERMONS (London: T. Cadell). His anonymous THE HERALD OF LITERATURE, AS A REVIEW OF THE MOST CONSIDERABLE PUBLICATIONS THAT WILL BE MADE IN THE COURSE OF THE ENSUING WINTER (London: J. Murray). His anonymous INSTRUCTIONS TO A STATESMAN. HUMBLY INSCRIBED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE GEORGE EARL TEMPLE (London: Murray, J. Debrett & J. Sewell). In this period, although he was employed as an assistant in the preparation of the NEW ANNUAL REGISTER, his primary income was coming from the reviews he was writing (in this year and in the following year as well) for Murray’s English Review. GODWIN’S EARLY LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1785 Early in the year: Early in this year William Godwin wrote a series of letters in the Political Herald, using the identity “Mucius.” He would become the publication’s acting editor, but when an offer would be made for him to be the permanent editor, he would decline. He was sharing a house with James Marshall, who would become a lifelong friend. He met the Reverend Joseph Priestley. GODWIN’S LITERARY WORK HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1786 William Godwin met Thomas Holcroft, the novelist and playwright. HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1787 The emigrant to America Thomas Paine exhibited a model of his long, single-span wrought-iron bridge in Philadelphia and then sailed back to England to raise funds to attempt a full-scale construction. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, he would become a citizen of France and be elected to the National Assembly. The radical bookseller Joseph Johnson introduced William Blake to the circle of Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, the Reverend Joseph Priestley, and Thomas Paine. Blake began to experiment with a new method of engraving in which the drawings were done in reverse in an impervious liquid on copper plates, and then the unprotected parts eaten away with acid. HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1788 An orphaned cousin, Thomas Cooper, age 12, came under the care of William Godwin. During this year and the following one, Godwin would be writing away at THE ENGLISH PEERAGE. GODWIN’S LITERARY WORK HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1791 April 13, Wednesday: William Godwin met Mary Wollstonecraft at a dinner at which Thomas Paine was also a guest. May: William Godwin planned AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON GENERAL VIRTUE AND HAPPINESS. GODWIN’S POLITICAL WRITINGS HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1793 February: William Godwin’s AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON GENERAL VIRTUE AND HAPPINESS (2 volumes, London: G.G. & J. Robinson). GODWIN’S POLITICAL WRITINGS HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1794 William Godwin’s THINGS AS THEY ARE; OR THE ADVENTURES OF CALEB WILLIAMS (3 volumes, London: B. Crosby). His CURSORY STRICTURES ON THE CHARGE DELIVERED BY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE EYRE TO THE GRAND JURY … OCTOBER 2, 1794, first published anonymously in the Morning Chronicle for October 21st (London: D.I. Eaton) and A REPLY TO AN ANSWER TO CURSORY STRICTURES, SUPPOSED TO BE WROTE BY JUDGE BULLER. BY THE AUTHOR OF CURSORY STRICTURES (London: D.I. Eaton). GODWIN’S POLITICAL WRITINGS HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1795 William Godwin’s anonymous CONSIDERATIONS ON LORD GRENVILLE’S AND MR. PITT’S BILLS, CONCERNING TREASONABLE AND SEDITIOUS PRACTICES, AND UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLIES. BY A LOVER OF ORDER (London: J. Johnson). The author was sketched by Sir Thomas Lawrence (this engraving of the sketch was by W. Ridley). HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1797 William Godwin’s THE ENQUIRER, REFLECTIONS ON EDUCATION, MANNERS AND LITERATURE, (London: G.G. & J. Robinson). March 29, Wednesday: William Godwin got married with Mary Wollstonecraft. WILLIAM GODWIN’S LIFE August 30, Friday: Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft was born in London, the only daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN September 10, Sunday: Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, mother of the infant Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft, died due to complications of the delivery. FEMINISM WILLIAM GODWIN’S LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1798 William Godwin’s MEMOIRS OF THE AUTHOR OF A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN, (London: J. Johnson and G.G. & J. Robinson). WILLIAM GODWIN’S LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1799 William Godwin’s ST. LEON, A TALE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY (4 volumes, London: G.G. & J. Robinson). When Charles Lloyd accused Mary Hays of improprieties, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Lamb, Robert Southey, and William Godwin became involved in the furor. WILLIAM GODWIN’S LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1801 William Godwin’s THOUGHTS OCCASIONED BY THE PERUSAL OF DR. PARR’S SPITAL SERMON, PREACHED AT CHRIST CHURCH, APRIL 15, 1800: BEING A REPLY TO THE ATTACKS OF DR. PARR, MR.MACKINTOSH, THE AUTHOR OF AN ESSAY ON POPULATION, AND OTHERS (London: G.G. & J. Robinson). HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1803 William Godwin remarried, with Mary Jane Clairmount. WILLIAM GODWIN’S LIFE HDT WHAT? INDEX WILLIAM GODWIN WILLIAM GODWIN 1804 The 2d edition of William Godwin’s LIFE OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER, THE EARLY ENGLISH POET: INCLUDING MEMOIRS OF HIS NEAR FRIEND AND KINSMAN, JOHN OF GAUNT, DUKE OF LANCASTER; WITH SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS, OPINIONS, ARTS AND LITERATURE OF ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY..