By then the former Marquise de Condorcet and living in Paris, Sophie de Grouchy (1764-1822) published her translation into French of Adam Smith's 1759 The Theory of Moral Sentiments in two volumes, and appended eight Lettres sur la sympathie to the second, presenting her views as a moral theorist on the philosophical issues Smith raised. Never before published in English, this critical edition and translation of the Letters will be a welcome addition to the scholarship of this fertile period of intellectual endeavor and, more generally, to women's studies. The first section of the volume contains an extended essay by Brown (philosophy, San Jose State U.) describing de Grouchy's philosophy, the intellectual debates of her time, and a reading of the Letters as presaging basic issues later addressed in feminist ethics. The excellent English translation of the Letters which fills the volume's second half is the work of McClellan (history of science, Stevens Institute of Technology) and includes his translator's preface. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Read Less