Maria Edgeworth (1767–1849) was born in Oxfordshire and, after being educated in England, went to Edgeworthstown in Ireland to act as her father's assistant and governess to his many other children. With her father she wrote several educational books, and as a novelist she earned the praise of Sir Walter Scott.
Marilyn Butler (1937–2014) was rector of Exeter College, Oxford. She was educated at the University of Oxford and taught both there and at Cambridge, where she was the King Edward VII Professor of English Literature from 1986 to 1993. Her books include Jane Austen and the War of Ideas, Peacock Displayed, and The Collected Works of Maria Edgeworth. Butler also edited Castle Rackrent and Ennui by Maria Edgeworth.
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