What Not; A Prophetic Comedy

TitleWhat Not; A Prophetic Comedy
Year for Search1918
AuthorsMacauley, [Emilie] Rose(1881-1958)
Tertiary AuthorsMacauley, Rose
Date Published1918/1919
PublisherConstable and Co.
Place PublishedLondon
KeywordsEnglish author, Female author
Annotation

Satire on bureaucracy. A Ministry of Brains is established concerned, among other things, to implement a eugenic policy to produce the most intelligent children. Rational social policy is in conflict with human needs and differences, and the rational social policy fails.

Additional Publishers

Rpt. from a copy of the first edition. Bath, Eng.: Handheld Press, 2019, with an “Introduction” by Sarah Lonsdale (vii-xxx) and “Notes” by Kate Macdonald (187-95) including a note on 194-95 showing what was put in place of the original text. Rpt. without the subtitle from a copy of the second edition Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2022, with an “Introduction: Sordid Novels and Preposterous Masculine Fictions” by Matthew De Abaitua (xvii-xxviii) with no mention of the missing material beyond Macauley’s original vague note on xxix.

Info Notes

The book was actually officially published in March 1919 due to the publisher’s fear of a libel suit required the removal of material in Chapter 10, although it was not removed in all copies and now the two works are identified as the 1st and 2nd eds.

Holding Institutions

PSt, WU

Author Note

Female author (1881-1958)

Full Text

1918 Macauley, [Emilie] Rose (1881-1958). What Not; A Prophetic Comedy. London: Constable and Co. The book was actually officially published in March 1919 due to the publisher’s fear of a libel suit required the removal of material in Chapter 10, although it was not removed in all copies and now the two works are identified as the 1st and 2nd eds. Rpt. from a copy of the first edition. Bath, Eng.: Handheld Press, 2019, with an “Introduction” by Sarah Lonsdale (vii-xxx) and “Notes” by Kate Macdonald (187-95) including a note on 194-95 showing what was put in place of the original text. Rpt. without the subtitle from a copy of the second edition Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2022, with an “Introduction: Sordid Novels and Preposterous Masculine Fictions” by Matthew De Abaitua (xvii-xxviii) with no mention of the missing material beyond Macauley’s original vague note on xxix. PSt, WU

Satire on bureaucracy. A Ministry of Brains is established concerned, among other things, to implement a eugenic policy to produce the most intelligent children. Rational social policy is in conflict with human needs and differences, and the rational social policy fails. Female author.