Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673) is unique among women writers of the seventeenth century in the scale of her output and in her aspiration to create a philosophical system. This edition presents Cavendish as a political author, and Susan James includes two major texts, the Orations and The Blazing World, accompanied by the standard series features that enables students to gain a better understanding of one of the truly distinctive political voices of the early modern period.

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673) is unique among women writers of the seventeenth century in the scale of her output and in her aspiration to create a philosophical system. This edition presents Cavendish as a political author, and Susan James includes two major texts, the Orations and The Blazing World, accompanied by the standard series features that enables students to gain a better understanding of one of the truly distinctive political voices of the early modern period.

Margaret Cavendish's Observations upon Experimental Philosophy holds a unique position in early modern philosophy. Cavendish rejects the picture of nature as a grand machine that was propounded by Hobbes and Descartes; she also rejects the alternative views of nature that make reference to immaterial spirits. Instead she develops an original system of organicist materialism, and draws on the doctrines of ancient Stoicism to attack the tenets of seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy. Her treatise is a document of major importance in the history of women's contributions to philosophy and...

Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), Duchess of Newcastle and one of the best-known women writers of the her time, is enjoying a revival in the wake of Aphra Behn's canonization: She appears in the "Norton Anthology of English Literature," her poetry will appear in a new edition, and Penguin has recently reprinted her science-fiction novel "The Blazing World." This is an edition of her hilarious and rowdy letters, unavailable since their original publication in 1664
"Margaret Cavendish: Sociable Letters" is a window into the world of 17th-century marriage and daily life displaying a pleasing...

Margaret Cavendish was an English aristocrat and writer in the 17th century. Cavendish also became the Duchess of Newcastle after she married William Cavendish. Cavendish's satirical book The Blazing World is one of the earliest works of science fiction.

First published in 1666, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle's Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World is the first fictional portrayal of women and the new science. This Broadview Edition includes related historical materials on the new science and Cavendish's role in the intellectual world of her time.