Hermsprong by Robert Bage

First published in 1796, Robert Bage’s Hermsprong; or, Man as He Is Not stands among the boldest works of late eighteenth-century fiction. Satirical yet deeply humane, the novel subjects class, privilege, religion and the position of women to searching scrutiny at a moment when Britain was grappling with the aftermath of revolution abroad and unrest at home.

Through the figure of Hermsprong—raised partly in America and untouched by the rigid hierarchies of Britain—Bage exposes the moral complacency and inherited authority of the English elite. At the centre of the novel stands Maria Fluart, one of the most striking heroines of her age: intelligent, independent and unwilling to accept submission as virtue.

Admired by Sir Walter Scott yet long neglected, Hermsprong remains a fearless defence of equality, sincerity and freedom of thought.

This P-Wave Classics edition restores the novel to its original three-volume format. Volume I includes the Biographical Introduction, Editorial Note and full Introduction, together with the opening part of the text. Volumes II and III will complete the novel.