Autorentext

Edited by Matthew Daniel Eddy, Rachel Feldberg and Jane Rendall

Klappentext

Examines the newly-discovered diary of Jane Ewbank as a vital site of knowledge-making, illuminating women's intellectual lives in Enlightenment York, where science, cultural criticism and sociability intersected. Between 1803 and 1805, Jane Ewbank of York kept a fascinating diary which chronicled her place within the lively Enlightenment world of northern England. Written in engaging prose, the diary offers a rare, richly textured account of a provincial woman's engagement with science, cultural criticism, and sociability in York and beyond. This interdisciplinary volume includes an annotated transcription of Ewbank's 34,000-word diary alongside essays situating it within the gendered knowledge networks of northern England. Exploring her participation in scientific lectures, women's writing and the arts in York, contributors interrogate the diary as a media technology, a cognitive tool, and an emotionally informed thinking device. Ewbank's encounters with figures such as the novelist and educationalist Maria Edgeworth, the scientific lecturer Henry Moyes, and the philanthropist Catherine Cappe are explored throughout. Intersecting topics ranging from natural theology and scientific education to literature, theatre and music are all discussed. The essays variously engage with historiographies of early modern life-writing, Enlightenment sociability, and the emotional economies of medicine, while offering reflections that challenge colonial silences and foreground global entanglements. Drawing on recent work in the history of science, literature and feminist theory, this volume redefines the diary as a critical artefact of Enlightenment culture and offers a compelling model for studying gendered intellectual life in regional contexts. MATTHEW DANIEL EDDY is Durham University's Professor and Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science and Co-Director of the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. RACHEL FELDBERG is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies, University of York. JANE RENDALL is an Honorary Fellow of the Centre for Eighteenth Studies and the History Department at the University of York. Contributors: Michael Brown, Matthew Daniel Eddy, Rachel Feldberg, Corinne Fowler, Joanna de Groot, Roseanna Kettle, Karen Lipsedge, Jon Mee, Jane Rendall, Gillian Russell, Millie Schurch.

Inhalt

1. The World of Jane Ewbank: Rethinking the Gendered, Scientific and Sociable Context of a Yorkshire Diarist Matthew Daniel Eddy, Rachel Feldberg and Jane Rendall 2. Life of Jane Ewbank (177824) Matthew Daniel Eddy, Rachel Feldberg and Jane Rendall Part I. Jane Ewbank's York and Its Global Context 3. Philanthropy and 'Philosophical Pursuits': Women's Networks in Jane Ewbank's York Jane Rendall 4. Noises Off: Decoloniality, Agency and the Power of Silence Corinne Fowler, Joanna de Groot and Karen Lipsedge 5. Rational Dissent and Gendered Knowledge: Manchester College, York, Catherine Cappe and Joseph Hunter Jon Mee Part II. Medicine, Science and the Natural World 6. Medicine, Emotion and the Market: Family, Community and the Intimate Negotiation of Medical Morality Michael Brown 7. 'A Very Curious Subject': Jane Ewbank, Public Lectures and Experimental Philosophy in York during the Early 19th-Century Matthew Daniel Eddy 8. From Crocodiles to the Nature of the Universe: Jane Ewbank's Shifting Engagement with the Natural World Rachel Feldberg Part III: Cultural Criticism and Performative Practices 9. Jane Ewbank Goes to the Theatre Gillian Russell 10. 'My means are less than small': The Charitable Patronage of Female Writers in Sheffield and York Roseanna Kettle 11. Affective Landscapes in Women's Life Writing: Jane Ewbank and the Lake District Millie Schurch 12. Journal of Miss Ewbank of York, 1803 1803 1804 1805 Bibliography Index