NYU Press Dorothy Wordsworth: Selection from the Journals

Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1885) published nothing in her lifetime, save short extracts from her journals and letters which her brother, William, included in his Guide to the Lakes. She spent most of her life caring for her brother and his family, working, traveling and studying with him and his friends who include de Quincey and Coleridge. This selection for the first time presents her writings as a discrete text, giving her a separate authorial voice from that of her brother and bringing her to a new generation of students, scholars and enthusiasts. Wordsworth's journals, analyzed and set into context by Paul Hamilton's insightful introduction, chronicle the hardships and indispositions, the comings and goings, the windfalls and losses of those around her, both at home and during her many travels, revealing a relish for the experiences of others distinctly free from Romantic egoism. Most significantly, in her Grasmere Journal, she tells her own story, imposing her own narrative structure on events and discovering the plot of her own life. Review "This book shows us the true barbarism of warfare. It makes brilliant but unsettling reading. Viewed together, the essays offer as good a sustained critique of war as is available anywhere in print, combined with a passion and engagement that is all too rare in first rate scholarship. The book is to be greatly treasured as an important contribution in a field of study that remains depressingly relevant in the world today."-C. A. Gearty, London School of Economics "Warfare, [Kassimeris] reminds us, can foster the best of human virtues. But it can also provide an arena in which a nation's true character is demonstrated in the eyes of the world."-"Kansas City Star", About the Author Paul Hamilton is Professor of English at the University of Southampton. The author of Coleridge's Poetics and Wordsworth, he has published widely on the poetry and philosophy of the romantic period.