WILLIAM GODWIN (1756-1836) was a radical social philosopher, political journalist, novelist, and religious dissenter who anticipated the English Romantic literary movement with his writings advancing atheism, anarchism, and personal freedom. He was married to Mary Wollstonecraft, the famous feminist, who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter, the novelist Mary Shelley.
His most famous work, AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE (1793) , is one of the great political polemics and a key founding anarchist text. It establishing Godwin as the chief exponent of British radicalism, in the tradition of the French Revolution. In it, he criticized the "brute engine" of government for systematizing oppression of individual liberty in the name of law and order, and called for the abolition of all forms of rule and for the institution of an anarchist society based on small self-sustaining communities following the principles of simplicity, sincerity and equality. ENQUIRY was extremely influential in its time and was seen as illuminating a middle way between the fiery extremes of Burke and Paine. It influenced everyone from Shelley and Coleridge (who revered him) to Thomas Malthus, and would later echo through the writings of thinkers as diverse as Proudhon, Kropotkin, Marx and Thoreau.
Godwin augmented the influence of ENQUIRY with the publication of a widely acclaimed novel, CALEB WILLIAMS (1794) , written as a call to end the abuse of power by what Godwin saw as a tyrannical government. Intended as a popularisation of the ideas presented in his earlier treatise, Godwin used the novel to illustrate how legal and other institutions can destroy individuals, even when the people the justice system touches are innocent of any crime. Although released to outstanding commercial success, the novel attracted many negative reactions from the conservative press who, predictably, saw it as an affront not only to government but also to justice, virtue, and religion.
His second novel, the gothic ST. LEON (1799), also became popular (and notorious) at the time of its publication but is now mostly forgotten. Set during the Protestant Reformation, it is the tale of a French aristocrat who loses his wealth gambling and experiences guilt that drives him almost to madness. He accepts the secret of the elixir of life and of the power of multiplying wealth from a dying stranger, ultimately causing him to wander separated from humankind. (The novel may also have provided inspiration for his daughter's "Frankenstein".)
Following the death of his wife, Godwin shut himself up in his study and wrote a candid and moving biography (MEMOIRS OF THE AUTHOR OF "THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN" [1798]). True to his philosophical belief in absolute sincerity, Godwin coolly describes Wollstonecraft's previous love affairs, her time in revolutionary Paris, her illegitimate child, and her two suicide attempts. The book almost wrecked both their reputations, but can now be seen as a masterpiece of indiscretion and human honesty.
The following books are in ePUB or PDF format as indicated:
== FICTION ==
* Caleb Williams (Oxford Worlds Classics, 2005). P. Clemit, ed. — ePUB + PDF
* Caleb Williams (Penguin Classics, 2005). M. Hindle, ed. — ePUB
* Caleb Williams (Norton, 1977). D. McCracken, ed. — PDF
* Damon and Delia (AL, 2019) — see below
* Fleetwood [1805] (AL, 2020) — see below
* St. Leon (Oxford Worlds Classics, 1994). P. Clemit, ed. — PDF
== NON-FICTION ==
* Enquirer, The [1797] (AL, 2020) — see below
* Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (Oxford Classics, 2013). Philp, ed. — ePUB
* Essays (King & Co., 1873) — PDF
* Godwin on Wollstonecraft (HarperCollins, 2009). R. Holmes, ed. — ePUB
* Imogen (AL, 2019) — see below
* Italian Letters (Nebraska, 1965). B.R. Pollin, ed. — PDF
* Lives of the Necromancers (Libertarianism.org, 2017). Comegna, ed. — ePUB
* Memoirs of the Author of 'The Rights of Woman' (Penguin Classics, 1987) — ePUB
* Romantic Rationalist: A Godwin Reader (PM, 2017). P. Marshall, ed. — ePUB
* Thoughts on Man (Kelley, [1831] 1969) — PDF
These reprints from the Anarchist Library are also included (all PDF):
* Account of the Seminary... [1783] (AL, 2020)
* Caleb Williams [1794] (AL, 2019)
* Damon and Delia [1784] (AL, 2019)
* Defence of the Rockingham Party [1783] (AL, 2020)
* Enquirer, The [1797] (AL, 2020)
* Enquiry Concerning Political Justice [1793] (AL, 2019)
* Fleetwood [1805] (AL, 2020)
* History of the Life of William Pitt [1783] (AL, 2020)
* Imogen (AL, 2019)
* Instructions to a Statesman [1784] (AL, 2020)
* Lives of the Necromancers [1834] (AL, 2019)
* Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the RIghts of Woman [1798] (AL, 2019)
* Thoughts Occasioned by the Perusal... [1801] (AL, 2020)
* Thoughts on Man [1831] (AL, 2019)
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