Robert Bage

Robert Bage (1728–1801) was an English novelist, paper manufacturer and thinker aligned with Enlightenment and radical ideas. Born in Derbyshire, he combined business with wide intellectual interests, moving in dissenting and reformist circles that included Erasmus Darwin and members of the Lunar Society. Between 1781 and 1796 he published six novels, culminating in his most celebrated work, Hermsprong; or, Man as He is Not. Noted for its satire of privilege and its proto-feminist heroine Maria Fluart, the novel challenged religious orthodoxy, social hierarchy and gender roles. Admired by contemporaries such as Sir Walter Scott, Bage’s fiction remains distinctive for its wit, candour and commitment to equality, even as his works have been neglected in modern times.