Selected Philosophical, Scientific, and Autobiographical Writings

In her edition and translation of writings by Marie-Geneviève-Charlotte Thiroux d’Arconville (1720–1805), Julie Candler Hayes provides an important look at a remarkable woman writer, thinker, and scientist. D’Arconville was a “true woman of the Enlightenment” — a woman of wide-ranging interests, concerned with moral, societal, and philosophical issues, such as the role of self-love (amour-propre), perspectives on history, and the value of friendship versus marriage. Her published writings are extremely significant, but perhaps even more intriguing are the recently rediscovered manuscript texts that she wrote late in life, offering a glimpse into the mind of this fascinating woman who was married at a very early age, took charge of her own education, and outlived the Revolution.—Sharon Diane NellProfessor of French and Dean of the School of Humanities, St. Edward’s University

• Acknowledgments xvIntroduction 1Part One: Published Works, 1756–1783 23Dedicatory epistle and translator’s note 25Discourse on Chemistry 30Discourse on Osteology 75Thoughts and Moral Reflections, excerpts 84Treatise on Friendship, excerpts 102Discourse on Putrefaction 113Preface to The Life of Marie de Médicis 126Preface to The History of François II 134Part Two: Late Manuscripts, 1801–1805 141Thoughts, Reflections, and Anecdotes, excerpts 143Bibliography 231Index 241