Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, ‘Life of William Godwin’ [1836–40]

At 17, Mr. Godwin’s future career was decided by a journey to London. It is evident that at that time he possessed the intellectual ardour—yet constitutional calm of disposition that accompanied him through life. There was within him an anticipation of future greatness. Timid in manner, but with considerable internal self-confidence; desirous of the approbation and sympathy of others, he was often doomed to receive coldness when he felt his own heart open warmly to the sentiments of friendship. Caleb Williams was published in May. It raised the reputation of the author to the highest pitch—Those who had no taste for political disquisition or who did not agree in the tenets of Political Justice were carried away by the engrossing interest, the elevated feeling and dignified yet purely English style of the novel.