ABSTRACT
Fanny Wright (1795-1852) was born in Dundee, Scotland, but orphaned at the age of three. Her father had become a well-to-do linen merchant before his death and left his daughter a substantial estate, enhanced by bequests from other relatives. Undoubtedly influenced by the fact that her father had been a fervent admirer of Tom Paine, she was drawn to the revolutionarydemocratic ideology associated with Paine and his comrades. While in their teens, she and her younger sister Camilla joined the household of her uncle, James Mylne, who taught at the University of Glasgow and was part of a liberal and radical intellectual and political milieu. This powerfully con - tributed to her own intellectual development, which was deepened as she educated herself in the libraries of Glasgow.
