Letters of Mrs Gaskell's Daughters

Letters of Mrs Gaskell's DaughtersThe letters of the four Gaskell daughters open a door into the social and cultural lives of a well connected middle class Victorian family. Events that impinged on the lives and the letters of these women include the Indian Mutiny, the assassination of Lincoln, the FrancoPrussian War, the Boer Wars and Fenian agitation. They witnessed the effects in England of the American Civil War, and engaged in the religious controversies of the day. They take a

The letters of the four Gaskell daughters open a door into the social and cultural lives of a well-connected middle-class Victorian family. Events that impinged on the lives and the letters of these women include the Indian Mutiny, the assassination of Lincoln, the FrancoÐPrussian War, the Boer Wars and Fenian agitation. They witnessed the effects in England of the American Civil War, and engaged in the religious controversies of the day. They take a close interest in the impact of DarwinÕs discoveries, discuss the latest news, RuskinÕs lectures on Venice, the Pre-Raphaelites, and what it is like to play BeethovenÕs piano pieces under Sir Charles HallŽÕs tuition. They also shed light on the network of Unitarian friends and scholars who undertook the stewardship of Elizabeth GaskellÕs writing. This richly annotated edition will appeal to anyone interested in Transatlantic relations, in Mrs Gaskell, in womenÕs networking, in Victorian ideas and social life, and in the intellectual culture of dissenting circles.