First published in 1798, William Godwin's Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman is at once a tender tribute, an unflinching biography, and one of the most controversial books of its age. Here, in a complete and unabridged edition, Godwin remembers his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft—the philosopher, traveler, and fearless advocate of women's education—with the honesty that scandalized Georgian society and kept the book suppressed for generations. This new volume reproduces the full original text, prefaced by a modern introduction that situates the memoir within the turbulent 1790s and explores its themes of love, grief, intellectual partnership, and female autonomy. Careful reader's notes illuminate the people, works, and events Godwin assumes his audience knows. For admirers of Wollstonecraft, students of Romanticism, and anyone drawn to a love story told without sentimentality, this edition restores a brave and moving book to its rightful place. Part of The Founding Texts Library.