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William Godwin

(1756-1836), Philosopher and novelist

Regency Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter in 13 portraits
Philosopher and novelist, Godwin was arguably the most famous English writer of the revolutionary period and the leading radical spokesman. In the Enquiry concerning Political Justice (1793) he detailed his optimistic belief that if human reason could be 'perfected' this would allow authoritarian laws and institutions to be overturned. Despite being ideologically opposed to marriage, he married the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 when she was pregnant with their daughter, the future Mary Shelley. Godwin had a powerful influence on the Romantic poets, especially William Wordsworth and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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