A radical outsider, a fearless heroine and a society under scrutiny

Volume II of a three-volume edition

In this second volume of Robert Bage's Hermsprong; or, Man as He Is Not, social comedy deepens into moral confrontation. As Hermsprong's plain speaking continues to unsettle rank and pretension, the tensions between principle and power grow sharper. Private affections and public authority collide, and the costs of sincerity in a hierarchical world become increasingly clear.

Maria Fluart's independence shines more boldly than ever, her intelligence and courage challenging the assumptions that seek to confine her. Around her, Bage exposes the fragile foundations of privilege, hypocrisy and inherited superiority.

First published in 1796, Hermsprong remains one of the most daring and humane novels of the late Enlightenment.

This new three-volume P-Wave Classics edition presents the text with a fresh introduction and extensive notes (printed in Volume I), restoring Bage's remarkable novel to its full intellectual and historical resonance.

With notes and an introduction by L.A. Davenport.

Robert Bage (1728-1801) was an English novelist, paper manufacturer and thinker aligned with Enlightenment and radical ideas. Born in Derbyshire, he combined business with wide intellectual interests, moving in dissenting and reformist circles that included Erasmus Darwin and members of the Lunar Society. Between 1781 and 1796 he published six novels, culminating in his most celebrated work, Hermsprong; or, Man as He is Not. Noted for its satire of privilege and its proto-feminist heroine Maria Fluart, the novel challenged religious orthodoxy, social hierarchy and gender roles. Admired by contemporaries such as Sir Walter Scott, Bage's fiction remains distinctive for its wit, candour and commitment to equality, even as his works have been neglected in modern times.