Writings on the Nile: Harriet Martineau, Florence Nightingale and Amelia Edwards - Softcover

Rees, Joan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0948695404 ISBN 13: 9780948695407

Publisher: The Rubicon Press, 1995

Synopsis

This book illuminates the biographies of three remarkable women; it contributes to knowledge of Victorian England and the prevalent moral and intellectual preoccupations of the time; and it evokes the psychological, philosophical and spiritual impact on modern consciousness of the rediscovery of ancient Egypt.
Harriet Martineau was a doughty and influential campaigner for multiple social causes; Florence Nightingale became a universally acclaimed reformer of nursing and hospital practices; Amelia Edwards, formerly a novelist and prolific professional writer, returned from Egypt to found the Egypt Exploration Society and endow the first Chair of Egyptology at a British University. All three were independent-minded women of strong character and exceptional gifts. They were accomplished writers, each with a distinctive style, and their accounts of their Nile journeys are richly individual and full of life, thought and observation. The story of their encounters with the ideas and relics of the remote Egyptian past will speak to all those who, like their predecessors, find their imaginations deeply stirred by the monuments and artefacts of the ancient civilization. Their experience is contrasted with that of Lucie Duff Gordon who lived "among the people" in Luxor for seven years. She adds a fourth striking figure to this group of highly intelligent and gifted women whose writings on the Nile give a revealing and unusual insight into personalities and achievements of mid-Victorian life.

About this title

Synopsis

Focusing on three remarkable women, this book offers insights into Victorian England and the moral and intellectual preoccupations of the time, and also into the psychological, philosophical and spiritual impact on modern consciousness of the rediscovery of ancient Egypt. Harriet Martineau was a doughty and influential campaigner for social causes; Florence Nightingale became an acclaimed reformer of nursing and hospital practices; and Amelia Edwards, formerly a novelist and prolific professional writer, returned from Egypt to found the Egypt Exploration Society and endow the first Chair of Egyptology at a British university. All three were independent-minded women of strong character and exceptional gifts. They were accomplished writers, each with a distinctive style, and their accounts of their Nile journeys are richly individual and full of life, thought and observation. The story of their encounters with the ideas and relics of the remote Egyptian past is likely to appeal to all those who, like their predecessors, are stirred by the monuments and artifacts of the ancient civilization.

Martineau, Nightingale and Edwards were women of intellectual and emotional depth on whom their personal discovery of Egypt was a lasting and in many ways formative influence. In a final chapter, this book contrasts their experience with that of Lucie Duff Gordon, who lived "among the people" in Luxor for seven years.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Rubicon Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0948695404
• ISBN 13: 9780948695407
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128