Florence Nightingale's Suggestions for Thought

Florence Nightingale's Suggestions for Thought has intrigued readers from feminist-philosopher J.S. Mill (who used it in his The Subjection of Women) to the latest generation of women's activists. Although selections from this long work have been published, Lynn McDonald is the first editor to work through the numerous surviving drafts of Nightingale's writing and present it as a complete volume. Suggestions for Thought contains two early attempted novels, draft sermons, and a lengthy fictional dialogue featuring St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, the American evangelical Jacob Abbott, and British agnostic Harriet Martineau (with cameo appearances by Protestant reformer John Calvin and the poet Shelley) all against an unnamed "M.S." The most famous section of Suggestions for Thought is the essay Cassandra, famous as a rant against the family for stifling womens aspirations. Here the printed text is shown with the original novel draft alongside. McDonald's introductions to each section provide historical context and Nightingales later views of the work.
The Series and the Set The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale comprises all surviving writing of Florence Nightingale, featuring original material from over 200 archives and private collections worldwide. Known as the heroine of the Crimean War and the major founder of the modern profession of nursing, Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is affirmed as a scholar, theorist, and social reformer of enormous scope and importance. This series demonstrates her astute use of the political process; reports on her extensive correspondence with royalty, viceroys, cabinet ministers, and international leaders; and contains a great deal of previously unpublished material--Florence Nightingale is revealed as so much more than the "lady with the lamp." The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale is indispensable to scholars, and accessible and revealing to the general reader. All sixteen volumes can be purchased together at a reduced cost with the Collected Works of Florence Nightingale: The Complete Set.