Journal of Emily Shore

by Barbara Timm Gates (Editor)

Overview

Emily Shore's journal is the unique self-representation of a prodigious young Victorian woman. From July 5, 1831, at the age of eleven, until June 24, 1839, two weeks before her death from consumption, Margaret Emily Shore recorded her reactions to the world around her. She wrote of political issues, natural history, her progress as a scholar and scientist, and the worlds of art and literature. In her brief life, this remarkable young woman also produced, but did not publish, three novels, three books of poetry, and histories of the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans, and she published several essays on birds. Written in an authoritative voice more often associated with men of her time, her journal reveals her to be well versed in the life of an early Victorian woman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813913551
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	12/03/1991
Series:	Victorian Literature and Culture Series
Pages:	382
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.25(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Barbara Timm Gates is Professor of English at the University of Delaware. She is the author of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories; Critical Essays on Charlotte Bronte; and many articles and reviews dealing with nineteenth-century literature and culture.

Editorial Reviews

Restoring segments deleted by Shore's sisters when this journal was first published 90 years ago, Gates ( Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories ) has rediscovered an unknown jewel in the rough. Shore's journal from age 11 until her death from consumption in 1839 at age 19 reflects a singular Victorian woman-child. A record of intellectual rather than emotional life, this diary shows how passion in the pursuit of knowledge can attain an almost sensual intensity. Whether writing about botany, literature, family and friends or even her impending death, Shore focuses in on a myriad of subjects, from ants to the way the moon shines over Madeira. Criticizing literature with a deft touch, she considers that Shakespeare has ``done himself injustice'' in Henry VIII. Reflecting finally on her own emotional health, she notes that she has led a happy and fulfilling life. In so doing, she makes the reader care about the observer, not just the observations, and feel that the premature death of this author of several unpublished volumes, including a history of the Jews and three novels, was a true tragedy. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly