The Invisible Hand of Maria Edgeworth (How a Nineteenth-Century Novelist Taught the World Economics)

The unforgettable story of Maria Edgeworth—acclaimed 18th and 19th century novelist—who hid economic lessons in her stories, delivering fundamental ideas to ordinary people and changing the field forever.

At the end of the 18th century, Europe faced turmoil and unprecedented change by way of revolutions, famine, and war. As many writers recorded these tribulations in popular literature, one author in particular captivated audiences across Europe. 

Maria Edgeworth, known as “The Great Maria,” was one of the most important economic thinkers of the regency era. Her fiction earned praise from Lord Byron and outsold Jane Austen. And while economists including Adam Smith and Thomas Robert Malthus established philosophies on production and investments, Edgeworth published almost two dozen books with lessons on finance, society, and trade tucked inside their plots. Through her fiction, Edgeworth discovered a means of delivering ideas on economics to the public—something, as a woman, she could never do otherwise—captivating an entire empire while educating them in the process.

Tracing the life, lore, and accomplishments of Maria Edgeworth, esteemed journalist Jeanna Smialek introduces readers to a one-of-a-kind figure who spread economic ideas and social commentary across Europe. As Edgeworth grew into one of the great storytellers of her time, she also became one of the first female economists in the world, and an influence on an entire generation of readers. At once thought-provoking and empowering, The Invisible Hand of Maria Edgeworth shines a light on an astonishing woman whose voice on the page illuminated the global imagination—while also giving readers a sweeping intellectual history of the dawn of economics as a field.

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