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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British writer (1844–1901)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}<br />
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'''Edith Jemima Simcox''' (21 August 1844 &ndash; 15 September 1901) was a British philosopher, writer, [[trade union]] activist, and [[feminist]].<br />
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She published a large number of journal articles in ''[[Fraser's Magazine]]'', ''[[Fortnightly Review]]'', ''[[The Nineteenth Century]]'', ''[[Macmillan's Magazine]]'', ''[[Contemporary Review]]'', the philosophy journal [[Mind (journal)|''Mind'' (journal)]] and in particular [[The Academy (periodical)|''The Academy'' (periodical)]], for which she wrote around 70 articles. The topics ranged widely but mainly covered literature, philosophy, and social and political issues. She often used the pseudonym "H. Lawrenny". Within philosophy Simcox often reviewed and responded to German philosophy of the time. For example, she wrote on Schopenhauer (''Contemporary Review'', 1872), on [[Johann Georg Hamann]], [[Heinrich Heine]] (''The Academy'', 1872 and 1869). Amongst other literary works she reviewed ''Middlemarch'' by [[George Eliot]] (1873) and the ''Memoir of Jane Austen'' (1870).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Looser|first=Devoney|title=The Making of Jane Austen|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2017|page=148|isbn=978-1421422824}}</ref><br />
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From essays Simcox progressed to write several books. ''Natural Law: An Essay in Ethics'' appeared in 1877. Simcox approached morality as a natural phenomenon, opposing the view that morality must depend on religion. The book gave an account of government, morality, religion, and the ideal form of social, political and economic organisation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/naturallawaness00simcgoog/page/n14/mode/2up|title=Simcox, Natural Law|date=1877 }}</ref> It was an ambitious work and was widely reviewed. In [[Mind (journal)|''Mind'' (journal)]], for example, it was described as a "thoughtful and able work [which] is in many respects the most important contribution yet made to the Ethics of the Evolution-Theory".<ref>{{citation |last=Adamson|first=R.|title=Mind|year=1877|issue=2|pages=552}}</ref><br />
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Simcox's other major theoretical work was the massive two-volume ''Primitive Civilisations'', published in 1894. It was on the Egyptian, Babylonian, Phoenician, and Chinese civilisations, looking at the relation between their property relations and other aspects of their social organisation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13056|title=Simcox, Primitive Civilisations|date=1894 }}</ref> She argued that Europeans had underestimated these societies and that the West had much to learn from them. A reviewer in the ''American Journal of Sociology'' said that she had produced a "book which for interest to the student of social institutions may be compared with [[Herbert Spencer]]'s ''Principles of Sociology''".<br />
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Simcox was involved in politics and the union movement. In 1875 she and [[Emma Paterson]] became the first women to attend the [[Trades Union Congress]] as delegates. From 1879-1882 she was a member of the [[London School Board]] representing Westminster.<ref>{{cite news|title=London School Board Elections|newspaper=Daily News|date=29 November 1879}}</ref><br />
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In 1872, when she was preparing a book review of Middlemarch, Edith Simcox met and fell in love with the female novelist known by her pseudonym, George Eliot. Although this "love-passion" was not reciprocated, Simcox was determined "to love rather than be loved" and continued to be a devoted friend to Eliot. For Simcox's complete journal, see Fulmer and Barfield, eds., ''Autobiography of a Shirtmaker''. Simcox lived at 60 [[Dean Street]], London.<br />
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==Selected works==<br />
*''Natural Law: An Essay in Ethics'' (1877)<br />
*''George Eliot. Her life and works'' (1881) article in the ''Nineteenth Century''<br />
*''Episodes in the Lives of Men, Women and Lovers'' (1882) fiction<br />
*''The Capacity of Women'' (1887) article in the ''Nineteenth Century''<br />
*''Primitive Civilizations: or Outlines of the History of Ownership in Archaic Communities'' (1894)<br />
*''A Monument to the Memory of George Eliot: Edith J. Simcox's Autobiography of a Shirtmaker'' (1998) autobiography, edited by Constance M. Fulmer and Margaret E. Barfield (New York: Routledge, 1997)<br />
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==References==<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
* K. A. McKenzie (1961) ''Edith Simcox and George Eliot''<br />
* Rosemarie Bodenheimer, 'Autobiography in Fragments: The Elusive Life of Edith Simcox', ''Victorian Studies'' 44 (Spring 2002): 399-422<br />
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[[Category:1844 births]]<br />
[[Category:1901 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:English women writers]]<br />
[[Category:British feminist writers]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the London School Board]]<br />
[[Category:English lesbian writers]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century British women writers]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century English women]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century English people]]<br />
[[Category:British women philosophers]]</div>imported>Aadirulez8