Harriet Nowell-Smith is now a lawyer in Canada; five years ago she was a student of Comparative Literature at the University of Montreal. Harriet and I shared an interest in Edward Gibbon, met via Internet email, and corresponded about history, astronomy, philosophy, physics, and a host of other topics. In 1996 Harriet sent me a copy of her thesis: How Did You Know What You Were Reading? (subtitled "Gibbon's History and Eighteenth-Century Verisimilitude"). She also gave me permission to post parts of it for her as a web page. Belatedly, I have done so — see GibbonNowellSmithThesis for the Abstract, Table of Contents, and Introduction.

In a letter that accompanied her dissertation Harriet wrote me in her always-graceful style about the huge contrast between law school and her previous work. She concluded:

I hope you are well, & all your lovely children. The lawyer who advises us students before we go to court has a nice baby who lives in her office. It's < 1, and cares nothing for laws, which is very sensible & a nice contrast to her Mum.

(see EugeneHo)

TopicPersonalHistory - TopicLiterature - 2001-09-14

(correlates: GibbonNowellSmithThesis, ValentineWish, WorthRemembering1, ...)