Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1641.5

HARRIET MARTINEAU (1802-1876) Life in the sick-room. : Essays L.C. Bowles and W. Crosby 1844 1st xx, 204 pages 20 cm

British social theorist and political writer Harriet Martineau is often credited as being the first female sociologist. She published books and essays on sociological, holistic, religious and domestic topics and was able to support herself financially through her writing, a rare feat in the Victorian era. Princess (later queen) Victoria enjoyed Martineau’s writings and invited her to her coronation in 1838. Early in her life, Martineau lost her senses of smell and taste, and much of her hearing; she believed the symptoms were psychosomatic, and was treated several times with mesmerism (the practice of hypnotizing a person to convince them to think or act a certain way). Throughout her lifetime, Martineau was acquainted with many famous figures of the era, including Thomas Malthus, John Stuart Mill, George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Florence Nightingale (No. 1884), and Charlotte Bronte. She was a fan of Charles Darwin, and was acquainted with his brother, Erasmus, who sent her a copy of The Origin of the Species (No. 1724) when it was published in 1859. This work is an autobiographical work about invalidism, and a declaration of independence and self-reliance. It asserts the place of the invalid in the patient/doctor relationship – something that critics of the time were not comfortable hearing, especially from a woman. Martineau was a political activist til her death, supporting acts to legalize licensed prostitution, women’s suffrage, and married women’s rights to property.

See Related Record(s): 1884 1724

Cited references: Osleriana 5127; Wellcome IV (pg. 67)