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VICTORIAN
WOMEN
A
couple of years ago I read about the discovery, in the chimney of an old house,
of an archive of manuscript and other material relating to Grace Webster (q.v.),
a forgotten Scottish writer of the 19th century. I bought that archive,
and that led to an interest in other neglected women writers of the period.
The 19th century was the first century in which women made a significant impact
on literature (of course there were women writers in earlier periods, but they
are the exception that proves the rule) and, despite the fact that many of their
works have fallen into neglect these days, I feel sure that one day the world
will once again want to know about them.
The women whose lives and works gain a mention here are a pretty random selection.
The only criteria for inclusion, really, are that they wrote in English and
that I felt their works were, one way or another, of sufficient interest for
me to buy a copy! Some of them are well-known, but the majority have fallen
into obscurity. In fact, scarcity has in itself been a third criterion for many
of the works listed, and in one or two cases I have been unable, not only to
track down any reference to the author of a given work, but even to locate another
copy of the work than the one in my hands. The collection is still quite young
and still growing, and I welcome corrections, further information, suggestions
for additional material, etc.
There are a few reading copies listed, but ultimately I expect to weed those
out and replace them with collectible copies. I considered dividing the contents
into subject categories, but in the end opted to list entries in alphabetical
order by author's surname as given in the book itself, cross-referenced
with other names (usually surname before marriage) where applicable. I use the
term "first edition" in the book-collector's sense, i.e., to indicate
the first printing. Except in one or two cases, I have not given details of
the condition the books and manuscripts are in; most are very good to fine,
but a few are fragile or otherwise defective.
-A.L.O.E. "A Lady of England" (See TUCKER, Maria Charlotte)
-ANONYMOUS. The Faithful Mother's Reward. A Narrative of the Conversion
and Happy Death of J.B. who died in the tenth year of his age. With an introduction
by the Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D. (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication,
1853). Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by A.W. Mitchell,
M.D. In the Clerk's Office of the district Court of the Eastern district
of Pennsylvania. 16mo, intro. [xvi] + 323 pp. OLCL (wrongly)
gives Charles Hodge as being the author and lists 8 holding libraries. First
edition.
Spiritual biography. When I saw this book I was amazed that a mother
could see her child's death in such terms. 150 years is not so long - just
a few generations - and yet one would be hard put to find anyone in the western
world today writing in this vein. If the mother's account is to be taken at
face value, the child showed himself capable of religious discourse almost before
he was out of his nappies, and it seems he and his mother hardly ever discussed
anything else.
-BADEN, Frances Henshaw. Lady Margaret (not separately published; in Dora Delmar,
Had She Foreseen!, q.v.). 14 pp.
Romantic
fiction. Frances Baden was quite a popular author in her day, and co-authored
several works with E.D.E.N. Southworth (q.v.).
-BAILLIE, Mrs. E.C.C., Autograph letter, signed to Miss Philpot (Wyvenhoe Rectory,
Colchester, March 22nd, year not given but probably c. 1879).
"My
dear Miss Philpot, I thank you for your very kind letter. I think I would publishing
[sic] the pieces as Fragments of a Poem entitled 'Communism &c.'
My only doubt is as to the first short extract. Perhaps the place of
that might be changed, or if not, I do not think it should hinder pursuing the
original title which is so very nice and connects all the rest.
"It is so good of you to express a wish to see me - I very
seldom leave home, but if I were at any time in the West, nothing would give
me greater pleasure than to pay you a visit. I always remember your kind reception
when my husband and I were at [word illegible] together. Could you come
to us at Wyvenhoe some time when you go to London? I would do my best to make
you welcome.
"I have not been quite so strong the last fortnight; more
pain than usual, I am suffering a cold added to my other ailment.
"I must send you a text we had on Wednseday when a good
man preached a most encouraging sermon - 'Faint, yet pursuing'. Judges
VIII.4.
"I exceedingly like your beautiful lines - Have you not
written more?
"My pieces are collected together in a small book entitled
'The Way of the Wilderness and other Poems' [1865]. I fancied you had
seen this - I suppose you know my 'Hours of Rest' [1867].
"With kindest love to all your circle,
"Your affec[tion]ate friend E.E.C. Baillie"
I have not yet checked the work in question, but it would seem
that the opening paragraph is connected with Words Heard in Quiet. Searchings
out of the Book of the Lord and Fragments of Letters and Poems. By E. A. W.
With a memorial preface by B[enjamin]. Philpot. Edited by his daughter
[Miss L. C. Philpot] (London 1870). It is reasonable to suppose that
the letter was written to Miss L.C. Philpot at the time that she was editing
this work for publication.
-BAILLIE, Mrs. E.C.C.,
The Protoplast. A Series of Papers, 2 vols. (London; Wertheim and Macintosh,
24, Paternoster Row, 1853). The British Library has a copy of the first edition,
but OCLC lists only the second (1855) edition, and only four holding libraries
of that. The author's name is not given, but is known from other sources.
First edition.
Religio-philosophical
treatise. The author was well-known as a writer, poet and traveller, and later
converted to Catholicism.
- BOOTH, Mrs. [Maud]
Ballington (1865-1948). Look up and Hope (New York, A.D.F. Randolph Company
1897). Copyright 1897. 16mo, 45 pp. + ads. OCLC lists just one copy. It was
republished in 1981. First edition.
Moral
tract. The Ballington Booths were pioneers of the Salvation Army, but later
resigned from it and set up Volunteers of America. Mrs. Booth developed an especial
interest in prison reform, and this book, inspired by prison visits, is written
to encourage people in prison. My copy has "How they loved her" under
her name in pencil on the title page.
-CHILD, Mrs. L. Maria.
Philothea: A Grecian Romance (New York, C.S. Francis & Co., 252 Broadway;
Boston, J.H. Francis, 125 Washington Street, 1845). "A new and corrected edition"
(the novel was first published in 1836). First edition thus.
A
romance "of
the wildest kind" (author's
preface).
- COBBE, Lucie. Doll Stories (London, W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Paternoster
Row, no date, but 1883). Small octavo, 112 pp. + ads. Illustrated. The book's
date can be determined from the ads, which carry the heading, "New Books...for
the Season 1882-3. Not in OCLC, but COPAC lists one holding library (British
Library) and also a second edition, 1888, also with one holding library (Manchester).
First edition.
Children's
stories. My copy has a significant flaw; the first leaf of the contents (pp.
10-11) is missing. Given the apparent scarcity of this book, I would be interested
in replacing the missing leaf with a facsimile.
-COLBORNE, Alice Edith. Alice Colborne's Sufferings, and how she has been
Supported in them (publisher not stated; the date 1889 is given at the beginning
of the text). Charles Jones, Printer, West Harding Street, London. 16mo, 96
pp. Text ends, "I am, Your loving sister in Jesus Christ, Alice Edith Colborne
(Aged 25 Years), Whitsbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire". Inscribed "Mrs H. Golding,
Three Cross, Ringwood, Hants. The gift of her neice F. [?] G., the sister
of the writer. May, 1891". No other copies of this book or references to the
author have yet come to light. First edition.
Spiritual autobiography. Alice Colborne was taken ill in her late
teens and confined mainly to her bed for several years. "My
dear Brother or Sister,"
she writes in a short preface beneath the title, "if
you are afflicted, do rejoice with me, not because we are suffering, but because
it will be ended here...May we meet above."
The book was apparently privately-published.
CONWAY, Katherine E. A Lady and Her Letters (Boston, Pilot Publishing Company,
1895). Fourth edition. 12mo, 90 pp. + ads. OCLC lists only ten holding libraries
of copies dating from 1895 (and only 16 copies altogether).
The
etiquette surrounding writing and receiving letters (for example, a young lady
in a strange city should write frequently to her mother).
-COOK, Eliza (1818-1889). Autograph poem and dedication (undated).
"To
one who said that the death of my Mother would leave a scar on my heart
"What stroke indeed would deeply gash
This heart - too prone to feel -
But oh! it could not leave a scar
The wound would never heal
Elizabeth
Cook"
Eliza Cook's most famous poem - "The
Old Arm-Chair" (first published in 1832) - is about the death of her mother,
and it is especially pleasing to have this short poem penned by her hand on
the same subject. I have yet to confirm whether it was ever published.
-COOK, Eliza (1818-1889),
Diamond Dust. By Eliza Cook (London; F. Pitman, 20, Paternoster Row, E.C., [1865]).
12mo, preface + 192 pp. + ads. First edition.
Collection
of aphorisms.
-COOK, Eliza (1818-1889),
Jottings from my Journal by Eliza Cook (London; Routledge, Warne & Routledge,
Farringdon Street. New York; 56, Walker Street, 1869). 16mo, 348 pp. With a
signed dedication from the author on the title page: "To
Dr. Saml. Wilks With the Grateful comp[limen]ts of Eliza Cook".
First edition.
Essays
on various topics. Subjects include "Our first Sweetheart", "Music", "Our Second
Sweetheart", "A Word on Slang" and "Partnership in Happiness". Eliza Cook's
Journal first appeared in 1849 and continued until 1854. The dedicatee is probably
the Samuel Wilks who published the first description of ulcerative colitis in
the London Medical Gazette (1859).
-COOK, Eliza (1818-1889),
New Echoes and Other Poems. By Eliza Cook (London; Routledge, Warne, & Routledge,
Broadway, Ludgate Hill. New York; 129, Grand Street, 1864. First edition.
Poems.
-CORELLI,
Marie (Mary Mills or Minnie Mackay, 1855-1924). Autograph letter to Sir James
Forrest, New Lyric Club, on embossed notepaper with a London address (47, Longridge
Road, Earl's Court. S.W.).
"Dear Sir James,
"I am very sorry that we are unable to accept your kind invitation
for tomorrow night, owing to a previous engagement. Thanks for your good opinion
of the 'Sorrows of Satan.' I regret that the prototype of 'Mavis Clare' is not
myself but another living original. The silly gossips who think it is me are
led astray by the initials of the name, M.C. As a matter of fact I had written
half the story with her name as 'Mavis Dare', but happening to read a story
where the girl's name is 'Alice Dare' I thought I should be accused of taking
that name, so altered Dare to Clare. One can, however, never escape misrepresentation!
"Yours very sincerely,
"Marie Corelli"
I
make no pretence to any great knowledge of Marie Corelli, but I contactedJessica
Salmonson, whose online critique of Corelli can be found HERE.
She was of the opinion that the letter cannot be taken at face value:
"Marie Corelli wrote many such
disclaimers...Mavis Clare dresses in white gowns excactly like the one Marie
is wearing in the 1904 photograph in THE STRAND that Bertha took, & which
was professionally touched up to give Marie a maidenly appearance...In essence
the story contrasts a 'typical' male author full of envy & misogyny attacking
a woman writer who is angelic, youthful, beautiful, & of course fantastically
talented with an extravagantly devoted public following, such as critical male
authors always lack. This is exactly how Marie perceived herself whenever she
was set-upon by some snobby, snotty, or even merely literary critic attempting
a balanced assessment...But having made her often-repeated arguments & claims,
this time in the form of a fictional character like Mavis Clare, her usual
critics in the press had a field day of scoffing & laughter, inducing her
as often to write angry letters to everyone who made fun of her, & denials
to everyone who seemed friendly but was curious." (Private
correspondence.)
If anyone knows of a novel of the period with a protagonist
named Alice Dare that would lend weight to Corelli's assertion. As it is, though,
I guess it should be taken with a pinch of salt!
-CORELLI, Marie (Mary Mills or Minnie Mackay, 1855-1924). The Sorrows
of Satan, or The Strange Experience of one Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire (London;
Methuen and Co., 36 Essex street, Strand, 1895). Octavo, 487 pp. + ads. 32 pp.;
the ads are dated September, 1895. At the head of the first chapter there is
a "Special Notice", reading, "No copies of this book are
sent out for Review. Members of the press will therefore obtain it (should they
wish to do so) in the usual way with the rest of the public, i.e., through the
Booksellers and Libraries." First edition.
A Novel.
A trendsetting landmark - apart from anything else it broke all records for
sales when it first appeared, making it one of the first bestsellers. It is
the second part of a trilogy, the first part being Barabbas and the last part
The Master-Christian.
-COSGRAVE, Anna MacDowel. Life Studies in Palmistry. Co-authored
with Ina Oxenford (q.v.).
-CUPPLES, Mrs. George. Alice Leighton (Anne Jane Dunne Douglas); or,
A Good Name is Rather to be Chosen than Riches. A Tale for the Young. By Mrs.
George Cupples, author of "The Story of our Doll", "The Little Captain", etc.,
etc. (London; T. Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row; Edinburgh and New York, 1875).
Cover pastedown and frontispiece in colour, black and white illustrations throughout.
16mo, xxii + 72 pp. OLCL lists two previous editions (1869 and 1874) and one
subsequent edition (1883), with a total of 8 holding libraries.
A moral tale for children.
DALL, Caroline Wells Healey. Editor of Mary Elizabeth Zakrzewska's autobiography
(q.v.).
-DELMAR (Dora Delmar). Had She Foreseen! (Chicago, M.A. Donahue and Company,
n.d.). Octavo, 275 pp. + 14 pp., the last part being a short story by Frances
Henshaw Baden (q.v.). Presumably a reprint of the first edition (G. Munro's
Sons, 1893, pp. 275). OCLC lists one holding library for the first edition,
and one for a 1928 edition, but this edition is not listed. The author's
surname appears on the spine, but not on the title page.
Romantic fiction. The story is set in
England, but apparently not published in the UK. It's an implausible tale
of villainy and its unmasking, but quite well told, and - like much of the romantic
fiction of the late 19th century - the verve and initiative of the female protagonist
make her a role model for the newly-dawning feminist prespective.
-DIXIE, Lady Florence (1855-1905). Autograph letter, dated December 22nd, 1893.
Sent from Rosehill Parish, Cornwall. To the editor of the Pall Mall Budget.
"Dear Sir, I am copying into M.S. form,
with a view to future publication, from the diary of a lady, whose name I cannot
divulge. It is entitled 'Jean Roy's diary or The Career of a Lonely Woman.'
The diary opens in 1874, giving a glimpse of Jean Roy at 15. It passes on quickly
to the end of 1880...and the remainder of the diary deals with her somewhat
eventful and stirring life up to May 1891... The reason of this explanation
is to ask you if you would like to secure the right to publish this Diary in
The Pall Mall Budget before I issue it in book form...I have copied and enclose
you a...set of lines written by my eldest boy [not present],
a little midshipman in the Royal Navy. If you would like to publish them in
the Pall Mall you are very welcome, but I must ask you to keep the author's
name private…"
An intriguing letter; I have
not been able to trace Jean Roy's diary or the poem written by Lady Dixie's
son.
-DIXIE, Lady Florence. Autograph letter, dated June 9th, 1902. Sent from Glen
Stuart, Annan. To the editor of Sporting Luck.
"Dear Mr. Stoddart. I too hope you will
get off your unjust sentence, but of course I do not know whether my interposition
will be successful or not. If it is let me know, & I shall be very pleased.
I think I have succeeded in helping one more fellow creature of the earth...I
send you 2 'Ramblers' [not present]; one contains my 'No. III
Ramble in the Hills', the other 'A Sermon from the Hills'...I do not know if
they are suitable for reproduction in Sporting Luck... 'Mock Turtle' is
also a very amusing 'skit' of Mr. Herbert Vivian's...I like racing and racehorses
because I think it is a true sport and shorn of all Cruelty, which I loathe,
be it to man or the dumb creation. I am a humanitarian and feel for all."
Herbert Vivian was, like Lady
Dixie herself, primarily a travel writer, known best for his books on Tunisa
and Abyssinia. I don't know what offence Mr. Stoddart was convicted of,
but it appears it all had a happy outcome (see following entry).
-DIXIE, Lady Florence. Autograph letter, dated October 2nd, 1902. Sent from
Glen Stuart, Annan. To the editor of Sporting Luck.
"Dear Mr. Stoddart, I am very glad.
I felt sure the personal petition I made in the quarter I said I wld, would
result in success, but did not like to be too sanguine. You will of course regard
the matter as private, as it was."
-DIXIE, Lady Florence. Autograph letter, dated January 4th, 1904. Sent from
Glen Stuart, Annan.
The recipient of this letter is unknown,
but appears to be a publisher who has asked her for an "anecdote", which she
promises to send as soon as possible. She mentions two Journals - Towards Freedom
and The Humane Review - which she hopes the addressee will subscribe to.
-DIXIE, Lady Florence. Autograph letter, no date. Sent from The Fishery, Windsor
Response to fan mail, sending the addressee
her autograph, as requested.
-DIXIE, Lady Florence. Aniwee, or The Warrior Queen (London, Henry and Company,
Bouverie Street, E.C., 1890). Octavo, 286 pp. + 2 pp. ads. A difficult Dixie
title; very few copies listed. First edition.
An adventure story for boys. Lady Dixie
is best-known for her account of her travels in Patagonia, where Aniwee is set.
She was also a noted campaigner for women's rights.
-DOUGLAS, Anne Jane Dunne (see CUPPLES, Mrs. George).
-DUCHESS, The (See HUNGERFORD, Mrs)
-EDWARDS, Amelia [Ann] B[landford] (1831-92). Autograph letter、dated
November 18th, 1880. Sent from 8 Albert Building, Weston Super Mare. To "Pop".
A small piece torn from one leaf affects a few words, but the sense is recoverable;
the missing or partial letters are in square brackets in the transcription.
"My dearest Pop--Thank you heartily
for your interesting & amusing letter. I did not believe it; but it is all
the more welcome. I have sent you a Tauchnitz copy of "Lord Brackenbury" (reprinted).
I could not bear you to be seeing scraps of that story--which I really believe
is the best I have written, & which I do wish you to read, at all events,
in a consecutive and comfortable way. Besides the Tauchnitz is really the best
printed and most correct of the 12 editions which have already appeared. Hurst
and Blacketts two library editions are full of faults--as are the three
American ones, & all the colonial ones, & the Stuttgart one. But Tauchnitz
had my latest and most careful revision, & is worth all the rest. It has
been a lucky book, and no mistake. I have had a letter from Hurst and Blackett
this morning to say they are going to issue a third three vol:
edition, & mean to include it (in one volume) in their standard library
in the spring. And it is being translated into German, and Russian. By the time
you come home it will have appeared in 14 or 15 editions. Of course I am very
glad. It is several years now since I brought out a 3 vol: novel; & I am
thankful it should not be said that I am falling off & worn out. Though
I suppose I must fall off and wear out someday! I was awfully knocked up at
the last in having to work at high pressure the last three months. When the
task was done, I went to Ramsgate & spent 10 days at The Granville,
taking hot sea baths, and a dose of ultra rest--then a few days at Margate on
Sea--then a rush to Malvira [?] - then a month at Torquay with Mrs Braysher
- & from Torquay we came on here, which is where Mrs B. is going to spend
the winter. I shall oscillate between Weston and Worthing--going home next week
for a spell of hard work, coming back on ticket of leave for a fortnight at
Christmas, &ditto ditto. The last I heard of the Symonds's was a post ca[rd
from] him, from Davis [?]. When I heard how he was taken ill [at]
Geneva, I wrote in a great fright first to Miss Alleyne & then to Johnnie.
He said very little about himself in reply, & filled the post card with
"Lord B", which he also thinks the best story I have written. Still he said
that he was "better, though still weak". Poor dear fellow! The last day I called
at Clifton to bid them goodbye, he was in bed, & we had afternoon tea at
his bedside. He looked like a lad of eighteen or twenty or so--so young &
boyish & delicate. I kissed him when I went away--the first time--perhaps
the last. It gave me a heartache to say goodbye. I could not help asking myself
if I should ever see him again It was all very sad--the dismantled house, the
packing cases in the hall--the heavy feeling of parting & breaking up old
ties & associations. U am hatching a novel in my head now--having had three
months holiday, & feeling that I ought to be putting my neck into the horse-collar
again. I am overwhelmed just now, too, by invitations from America--about a
score of houses open to me, & everyone entreating me to go there first.
I wish I could go--but I don't feel I dare leave the Atlantic between
Mrs Braysher and myself. She is too old and delicate now for me to feel any
peace when very far away. But I am longing to go, for all that & I believe
I should have a good time. Of news, dearest Pop, I have not the merest fag-end
for you. You know what a recluse I am become, & how entirely I have given
up society. In this place I know no one hardly, & live as cheerfully &
sociably as a periwinkle on a rock. Weston is, you know, "remote, unfriended,
melancholy, slow" - oh, so slow! And Worthing is the same, with a difference.
Thank you heartily for so kindly giving me the hospitality of the flat. I have
to go to town for a we[ek] or ten days some time in the early par[t]
of 1881, & since you give me the permission I will gladly take advantage
of your invitation & of Elizabeth's solitude.
"I am so glad you are enjoying the big island--& much
interested in your description of the queer trees, &c &c. I have read
somewhere of Australian trees whose leaves grow sideways--Have you seen those?
Or is it a crammer?
"Mrs Braysher sends her love cordially back to you. She
was greatly pleased at your kind message. Poor dear, a little kindness &
attention make her very happy. She has a most affectionate & warm heart.
"Goodbye, dearest old friend. I am so glad I was wrong about
the time--one year is ever so much better than two--hurrah!
"Ever your loving friend Amelia B. Edwards
"If ever you would like a little paragraph in The Graphic
or Academy, send me the particulars & I will do the deed. My penny whistle
is always at your service.
"Nov. 19th
"Latest Intelligence. Third library Edition of "Lord
B" out today!!!"
A gem of a letter, which I have
reproduced complete. I have not been able to trace who "Pop" is, but Mrs Braysher
was Amelia Edwards' lifelong friend and companion, and Johnnie Symonds is John
Addington Symonds (1840-1893), described by Rictor Norton as "a pioneer in the
field of gay rights…the first modern historian of (male) homosexuality, and
the first advocate of gay liberation in Britain" (source).
Amelia Edwards herself, in addition to her three careers as a novelist, a journalist
and an Egyptologist, was a prominent champion of women's rights in the late
Victorian period. There is a useful account of her life, linked to a bibliography
of her works, here.
This letter gives a fascinating insight into Edwards' life
at the point when she reached her pinnacle as a writer (Lord Brackenberry
was a runaway success), and anticipates her triumphal tour of America (1889-90),
when she lectured on "Pharaohs, Fellas, and Explorers". The letter shows her
at the height of popular success, yet living as reclusively "as a periwinkle
on a rock", and planning another novel, which in fact was never written, as
her energies were devoted increasingly to Egyptology.
-EDWARDS, Amelia [Ann] B[landford]. Lord Brackenberry,
a Novel…Copyright Edition. Collection of British authors, vol. 1926 (Leipzig,
Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1880). Two Volumes. 12mo., 328 + 320 pp. Erratum noted on
last page of second volume. First printing of the Tauchnitz edition.
Edwards' most successful novel, in the edition
that she herself preferred (see autograph letter, above). The contents are preceded
by Edwards' letter "To the Editor of the Academy":
"SIR
"Will you kindly grant me space to say--for perhaps the
tenth time within the last twenty years--that my name is neither Betham nor
Betham-Edwards; and that I am not related to the Betham family?…"
There is more, explaining that
Miss Bentham-Edwards is her cousin (also the author of numerous publications),
and she signs herself emphatically "AMELIA B. (Blandford)
EDWARDS". I have therefore given her second middle
name as Blandford (with a "d"), although it is often spelled without.
-ELLA (HURLBUT, Ella Childs). Philippa or Under a Cloud (New York, Cassell
Publishing Company, 104 & 106 Fourth Avenue, n.d., copyright 1891). Tall
16mo (18 x 10 cm.), 139 pp. Fifth (and latest) title in the "Unknown Library"
series. OCLC lists only ten holding libraries. First edition.
Romantic novella. The protagonist, the
daughter of a convict, finds a suitor who cares enough about her not to be put
off by any scandal.
-ELIOT, George (Mary Ann Evans, 1819-80). Felix Holt, The Radical (Edinburgh
and London, William Blackwood and Sons, 1866). Three volumes. Octavo, 303 +
290 + 283 pp. + ads. First edition.
Novel. Apart from her talent as a novelist,
George Eliot stands out among Victorian women for her lifelong relationship
with George Henry Lewes, whose adulterous wife had left him for another man.
-EVANS, Mary Ann (see George Eliot).
-EWING, Juliana Horatia. Convalescence (London, Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge; New York, E. and J.R. Young and Co., n.d.). 12mo, 32 pp. Illustrated
by One of a series of six, entitled "Poems of Child Life and Country Life".
OCLC cites editions of 1883 and 1885, with a total of eight holding libraries.
The illustration on the last page bears the legend H.M.S. Victory at Portsmouth,
1884.
Chidren's book on fortitude; "If
the courage that dares, and the courage that bears, are really one and the same"
then the little convalescent boy may one day grow
up to be a brave sea captain.
-EWING, Juliana Horatia. Jackanapes (London, Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge; New York, E. and J.R. Young and Co., 1884). Octavo, 47 pp. Illustrated
by Randolph Caldecott. Second issue (UK, with the one shilling price on the
cover), with "Why" instead of "Egad" at the end of p. 27 and correct page number
on frontispiece.
Children's book on the theme of
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori". A very popular work, that has been frequently
reprinted. There is a useful website, Juliana
Horatia Ewing and Her Books, which includes a link to an online version
of the text.
-FABER, Christine (pseudonym). A Mother's Sacrifice
(New York; P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 44, Barclay Street, no date; copyright 1891
by P.J. Kenedy). Octavo, 516 pp. Apparently the second edition, perhaps revised.
OCLC lists an edition of 1885, by the same publisher, with very few holding
libraries of either edition.
Catholic romantic fiction. The
opening scene - "The rigid corpse lying on the marble
table in the morgue was a ghastly sight..."
- is a real attention-grabber! The plot is based on the motif of a young woman's
love for a man who believes he has committed murder (cf. E.D.E.N. Southworth's
trilogy, A Deed without a Name, Emily Harcourt's Secret and To his Fate). Of
course, it transpires in the end that he is not a murderer; in this case, someone
came along after the hero had wounded the man - who, needless to say, is a villain
of the worst order whom the world is far better off without - and delivered
the fatal blow. The plot is rendered even more implausible by the introduction
of a supposed vigilante organisation (called "Roquelare"), whose members spare
no expense and sacrifice months - even years - of their lives feigning friendship
to get into people's confidence in order to unmask supposed criminals.
-FOSTER, Hannah A., Hilda. A Poem. By Hannah A. Foster. Illustrated (Philadelphia;
J.P. Lippinctt & Co., 1879). 12mo, 101 pp. OCLC lists a dozen holding libraries.
First edition.
A poem about the Civil War:
"To
arms, ye Northmen! Don your suits of blue,
And for the 'dear
old flag' brave thickest fight.
Forth from your
sunny homes, ye men of might!
Strike for your
'stars and bars' with valor true."
Symbolically interwoven with the events of history
is the fate of Hilda, thought to have been drowned, but reunited at the last
with her sister Amy.
-[FRY, Sarah Maria]. Little Jessie's Work, and The Broken Rosebuds
(New York, Carlton and Porter, Sunday-School Union, 209 Mulberry-Street, 1857).
16mo, 88 pp. Two engravings. OCLC lists four copies. First edition.
Moral tales for children.
-GRAVES, Mrs. A.J.. Woman in America; being an Examination into the Moral and
Intellectual Condition of American Female Society (New York; Harper and Brothers,
School District Library Series, No. 184, 1844). 16mo, 262 pp. First published
in 1841; this is the sixth edition. OCLC lists eleven editions, with over 200
holding libraries.
Early feminist tract. Not a great find
from a book-collecting point of view, but interesting in terms of its contents.
The book has chapters on domestic women, fashionable women, religious women,
intellectual women and women who are morally great. The author does not go into
personal biographies, but deals with the topics in a general way. She argues
that the education and personal development of women is conformable with the
needs of society (i.e., that fostering a sense of identity and personal worth
will not stop women from being homemakers and childraisers and so on); "We
condemn the Chinese for barbarously crippling the feet of their women, while
we, with scarcely more humanity, and with deeper injury, cripple in ours the
growth of all that is vigorous in thought or energetic in action, by keeping
them bound from infancy to maturity in habits of indolence, and of helpless
dependance." Graves also wrote Girlhood and Womanhood,
published in 1844.
-HUBBARD, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Famous Women (n.d., copyright
1897, New York and London, G.P. Putman's Sons). 12mo, 429 pp. + 4 pp. ads.
Third and latest title in the "Little Journeys" series. Signed and
inscribed by the author, "To that worthy Ishadili, Mr. Hewitt
Hanson Howland, with all good wishes from his friend, Elbert Hubbard".
First edition.
An interesting insight into which women
were considered noteworthy in the late 19th century. Contains a short biographical
account of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Madame Guyon, Harriet Martineau, Charlotte
Bronte, Christina Rossetti, Rosa Bonheur, Madame de Stael, Elizabeth Fry, Mary
Lamb, Jane Austen, Empress Josephine and Mary W. Shelley, with an engraved portrait
of each. (Elbert Hubbard, to whom the book is inscribed, was a writer and anthologist.)
-HURLBUT, Ella Childs (see ELLA).
-HUNGERFORD, Mrs. Conquering Heroine (Chicago, W.E. Conkey, n.d., Copyright
1892 by United States Book Company). OCLC lists 13 copies in four editions,
including two copies of this edition.
Satirical novel. The rather
slight plot deals with the reactions of a fashionable English set when an attractive
young Irish woman lands in their midst. She ends up falling for none of her
English suitors and marries her cousin.
-LE PLONGEON, Alice D[ixon]. Here and There in Yucatan. Miscellanies
by Alice D. Le Plongeon, author of Yucatan - its Ancient Palaces and Modern
Cities (New York; J.W. Bouton, 706 Broadway, 1886). Inscribed "To
John D. Crimmins Esq. With the compliments of the author Brooklyn N.Y. January
1898". 12mo, preface + 146 pp. The frontispiece portrait of the author
also carries the legend "Very truly yours Alice D. Le Plongeon".
The dedication is unquestionably authentic but frontispiece signatures very
often facsimiles and it is unusual to have a book that is doubly inscribed.
However, under magnification this one shows all the features of fading, bleeding,
etc., that betoken a genuine holograph. I have not yet had a chance to compare
it with another copy of the book. First edition.
Travel/sociology. Le Plongeon was an
acknowledged expert on Mayan culture and a feminist (see, e.g., her article
on women's suffrage, "A Thought on Government", Woman's Tribune,
14 January 1899). The dedicatee, Crimmins - a well-known figure in the New York
of his day - was a democrat, a Catholic, a building constructor, a philanthropist
and a noted collector of books and manuscripts. This inscription, showing an
interesting association between the two, is very pleasing, whether or not the
other (signed) inscription turns out to be a facsimile!
-MACCHETTA, Mme (see ROOSEVELT, Blanche).
-MACKAY, Minnie (see CORELLI, Marie).
-MADDEN, Mary Anne (see SADLIER, Mrs. James).
-MILLER, Mrs. Mary E., Riverside Farmhouse. By Mrs. M.E. Miller (New York; American
Tract Society, 150 Nassau Street, not dated; copyright 1875). 16mo, 48 pp. Four
chromolithographs pasted in, plus front cover pastedown. OCLC lists two copies.
First edition(?).
Moral tale for children. Mary Miller
wrote several tales of this kind, most of them published by the American Tract
Society.
-MILLS, Mary (see CORELLI, Marie).
MULVANY, Alicia A[nna]. Notes on the Journey. Privately-published.? N.d., but sometime after the author's death in 1898. Signed with a dedication by A.C. Mulvany.
Poetry/doggerel/diary. A kind of scrap
book of Alicia Mulvany's life. Along with some indifferent verse is her diary
(mainly recounting travels in Europe), written in doggerel verse. Here, as a
modest and fairly representative example, is the entry for July 23rd, 1891:
"A
letter this morning from Milly Mulvany,
Poor Mrs. Vidal hardly slept any,
And I, also, had no easy night,
So both decided it would not be right,
That she or I should e'en venture to go,
To coffee to Frau Pastor Balsters, so
Mabel and Annabel start about three,
Mabel in white, all white as could be,
Bridal her robes she had written a letter,
Which may her fate decidedly fetter;
I wrote a long epistle to Frank,
For his photos to Nannie and me to thank,
We sat in our little "keep" next the tower,
I read my 'Oberhof journal' aloud for an hour."
-MURRAY, Mrs. Elizabeth. Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain,
and the Canary Islands (2 vols., London, Hurst and Blackett, Successors to Henry
Colburn, 15, Great Marlborough Street, 1859). Octavo, 352 + 344 pp. + ads. COPAC
lists five holding libraries. First edition.
Travel literature. There are a couple
of pencilled comments in the margin by someone who evidently knew both Mrs.
Murray and some of the places and people she writes about. The comments are
essentially unfavourable, suggesting she was ungenerous and unduly distrustful
of the local people. She appears to be pretty much forgotten these days, but
gains a mention in a
Spanish language website on the relations between Britain and the Canary Islands,
where she is listed among the "curiosos impertinentes" (impertinent nosey-parkers)
who published views of the islands in the 19th century.
-ONLEY, Mary. Kitty and her Queen. A Story from English
History by Mary Onley, author of "Bonnie Jeannie", "Above the Breakers," "Carry
your Parcel," &c. (London: Jarrold & Sons, 10 and 11, Warwick Lane,
E.C.) Third edition. No date, but the only other copy I can trace (held by the
British Museum, edition not stated) is dated [1882].
Historical romance.
-OXENFORD, Ina, and COSGRAVE, Anna MacDowel. Life Studies in Palmistry (London,
L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C., 1899). Large octavo (over 24 cm. high), 80
pp. Complete with index, and illustrated throughout with palms of people from
various walks of life. OCLC lists six holding libraries. The book was reprinted
in 1971. First edition.
The authors were Fellows of the London Chirological
Society; Oxenford is a "late fellow", and Cosgrave is also a fellow of the Dublin
society of the same name (title page). The treatment, however, is not what I
understand by the term chirology, and is basically chiromancy, or palm-reading.
- PARDOE, Julia (1806-1862). Autograph poem, entitled The Poet's
Prophecy. (Shirley Park, March 4th; the year is not given, but it probably c.
1835).
"They stood
together on the haunted ground
Rich with Bocaccio's memory - 'twas a day
When all was blue and beautiful around,
And sunlight fell in many a glorious ray
On tree and stream; while insects, birds and bees,
Awoke the air with nature's melodies."
This is the first of six stanzas. "They" =
the poet Leigh Hunt and the sculptor Richard Westmacott. The scene is Florence
in 1825. The poem describes their premonition while in Italy of the death of
Lord Byron, and ends, "And soon the withering tale
of grief was said - / Europe is one long wail - Byron is dead!".
I have not yet been able to check through Pardoe's published poetry to see if
this is among them.
-PHELPS, Elizabeth Stuart (1844-1911). Autograph letter dated July 17th, 1867.
Addressed to the editor of Harper's Magazine.
"Dear Sir...Re to my article 'What Shall
they do?' it will oblige me much if it will receive prompt attention; since
if you do not wish for it, I have other use for it…"
The article was in fact published in
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 35, issue 208 (September, 1867).
-PHELPS, Elizabeth Stuart. Beyond the Gates (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Company;
New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street; The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1883).
Small octavo, 196 pp. + ads. Reprinted as recently as 1981.
Novel. Sequel to The Gates Ajar (q.v.)
-PHELPS, Elizabeth Stuart. The Gates Ajar (Boston, Fields, Osgood & Co.,
Successors to Ticknor and Fields, 1869). Small octavo, 248 pp. Later printing
(the first edition was in 1868).
Novel. A huge best-seller in the period after
the American Civil War, based on the death of the author's brother during the
war.
-PHELPS, Elizabeth Stuart. The Madonna of the Tubs ((Boston and New York, Houghton,
Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1887). Illustrated by Ross
Turner and George H. Clements. Octavo, 94 pp. Second edition (the first was
in 1886).
Novel. Phelps's later works never
achieved the popularity of her first book (The Gates Ajar), but she is increasingly
recognised as an important figure of her period. There are numerous websites
on her; here
is an example.
-[ROOSEVELT, Blanche] (1853-98), Marked "In Haste." A Story of To-Day
(New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Co., 201-213 East Twelfth Street,
1893). Octavo, 362 pp., preceded by a 2-page preface and a table of contents.
OCLC lists three editions, the first and third being comparatively scarce. This
copy is the more frequently-found second edition.
Epistolary novel, published anonymously.
Roosevelt had a short but very full life. She was a soprano opera singer, a
novelist, the wife of an Italian aristocrat, and the mistress of Guy de Maupassant.
Of several potted online biographies, I liked this
one--which takes her with a pinch of salt--the best.
-ROSAVILLA, Mme (See ROOSEVELT, Blanche).
-SADLIER, Mrs. James, (Mary Anne Madden, 1820-1903). The Priest's Sister;
or, The Silent Sufferings of a Blighted Heart by D.G.D., author of "The
Priest's Prophecy", etc. (New York: P.J. Kenedy, publisher to the Holy
Apostolic See, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House, 5 Barclay Street, 1899).
Copyright D. & J. Sadlier and Co., 1899. Bound together with The Inheritance,
translated from the French of Rodolph Topffer, author of "The Geneva Novels".
The cover (blue cloth with brown ornamentation and gilt title) carries the words
"Laetare Series" and "Mrs. Sadlier's Translations".
12mo, 82 pp. + ads. LoC lists some 29 works by Mrs. Sadlier, including translations,
but does not list either of these titles, which I can find no reference to anywhere.
"The Priest's Prophecy" is a translated extract from Topffer's "Nouvelles
Genevoises". First edition.
Two Catholic novellas. The first is
a moral fable on the theme of forgiveness, set in Ireland. Despite the initials
"D.G.D" on the title page, it was, according to the ads at the back of the book,
written by Sadlier, who was born in County Cavan. The second is a romance set
in Switzerland, and translated by Sadlier with an interesting preface in which
she cites Scott, Thackeray and Dickens with approval, and praises Topffer's
"pure and classic" style,
but disparages the "false taste of modern French
light literature, represented by Dumas, George Sand, and Victor Hugo," adding,
"Their style is sensational in the extreme, often
immoral, and always corrupting". There appears to
be only one other translation of any of Topffer's work into English - The adventures
of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, London, Tilt and Bogue [1841?], printed by Bradbury
and Evans - and there seems to be some doubt about whether that is really Topffer's
work or not.
There are quite a few references to Mrs. Sadlier online,
including her biography
in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Her husband was a Montreal publisher (hence
the Sadlier name in the copyright statement), and old copies of her works are
fairly easy to come by, but please let me know if you find these titles, which
appear to be scarce. I cannot even discover whether there was a Canadian edition
of them.
- SHEPHERD, Mrs. Margaret L. The Pope, the Jesuits, and the People (Boston,
[publisher not stated] 1890). Copyright, 1889. 12mo, 252 pp. + ads.
OCLC lists only three holding libraries. Soft cover. First edition.
Anti-Catholic tract. Shepherd
was President of the "Loyal Women of American Liberty" (as stated on the cover
of this book) and the author of several pamphlets.
-SIGOURNEY, Mrs. Lydia Huntley. Poems; by Mrs. L.H. Huntley (Philadelphia; Key
and Biddle, 23 Minor Street, 1834). 12mo, 288 pp., on two paper stocks, with
cancels, as called for, and with half-title and errata, but without the publisher's
catalogue that is appended to some copies. First edition.
Poems. Sigourney was one of the
first American women to make a career out of writing. There is plenty of information
available about her, so I won't take up space here!
-SOUTHWORTH, Mrs. Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte (1819-99). A Deed without a Name,
Dorothy Harcourt's Secret and To his Fate (New York; A.L. Burt Company,
no date; copyright 1885 and 1886 by Robert Bonner). A trilogy. Three volumes,
octavo, 347 pp. + ads., 336 pp. + ads. and 347 pp. + ads. The ads. are the same
in all three volumes. The text of the first two volumes ends announcing a continuation
"published in cloth binding uniform with this volume".
The ornamented design on the bindings is slightly different on all three volumes,
indicating that they may be different printings. Possible first editions.
Romantic fiction. A.L. Burt,
usually thought of as a reprint publisher, was apparently the original publisher
of this work. Southworth's world - of powerful emancipated women and jovial
unemancipated "Negroes" - is, in many ways, the same world that Margaret
Mitchell portrays in Gone with the Wind. The heroine, Roma, is "a
magnificent blonde beauty of the goddess Juno type, tall, broad-shouldered...In
character she was true, just, intellectual and independent. In temperament gay,
serene, affectionate and benevolent." Even
when a dastardly villain holds her captive on a remote island (in the first
volume of the trilogy) she remains cool and calm and collected, calculating
as he advances on her just precisely where she will shoot him so as to maim,
rather than kill him (in fact, he collapses in a drunken heap as she fires,
and her bullet misses its mark). Roma has overlooked many more outwardly successful
men and fallen for one William Harcourt but, unknown to her, in a moment of
weakness a scoundrel has lured Harcourt into getting drunk and gambling away
another man's money. Harcourt knows he has been tricked and attempts to get
the money back, but is confronted by the villain with a gun. The gun goes off
and the man is killed, but of course it transpires at the end that it was not
this shot that killed him, but another, fired at the same instant (cf. Christine
Faber, A Mother's Sacrifice, for the same motif of a star-crossed lover who
thinks he is a murderer).
About the only flaw in Roma's armour is her choice of sweetheart.
He succumbs to blackmail and lands her squarely in the tight spots she contrives
to get out of. The reader can only marvel, like her old friend Mr. Merritt,
"That such a glorious woman as Roma Fronde should
care for such a poor fellow as Will Harcourt!" But
it is part of her perfection that, "once having given
my love, I have given it forever, and can never recall it again."
Despite the essential implausibility of the plot (which,
after all, is nothing unusual in 19th century novels), Southworth conveys a
strong sense of character and setting, bringing each scene to life and carrying
the reader from page to page with assurance. I can quite see why she was so
popular in her day, and the verve and poise of the female characters (notably,
but not uniquely, the heroine) must have been especially appealing to women.
The way in which Roma devotes her considerable financial resources to such projects
as building a school for "Negroes" and staffing it with female teachers is just
one of many explicitly feminist-reformist motifs running through these books.
-SQUIRRELL, Mary Elizabeth (1838-?). The Autobiography
of Elizabeth Squirrell of Shottisham, and Selections from her Writings: Together
with an examination and defence of her statements relative to her sufferings,
blindness, deafness, entire abstinence from food and drink during twenty-five
weeks, and other extraordinary phenomena: Also Facts and Opinions Illustrative
and Suggestive: by One of her Watchers (London; Simpkin, Marshall & Co.,
Stationers' Hall Court, 1853). 12mo, 300 pp. OCLC lists seven holding libraries,
and cites a second edition of 1900, but I can find no other reference to the
reprint. First edition.
Religious autobiography/paranormal
phenomena. The British Library also holds what may be the only copy of
a 16-page pamphlet entitled The extraordinary case of fasting [by M. E.
Squirrell] at Shottisham ...; and twenty-one extraordinary cases of persons
abstaining from ... food ... from two to forty years, etc. (London; H. Elliot,
1852). The claims made in the present work are less extravagant. Squirrell's
autobiographical account ends on page 49, and is dated February, 1853, when
she would have been just coming up to her fourteenth birthday. She describes
epileptic fits and other afflictions, including blindness and the inability
to take food (even milk, she says, would not pass her oesophagus, though she
believes she derived some nourishment from taking mouthfuls of it and ejecting
them after absorbing a small quantity), and goes on to describe such phenomena
as communication with the spirit world, "my ability,
or, as it is now called, my alleged ability to read shorthand by touch"
and the spontaneous ringing of a glass ("an ordinary
and half-sized tumbler"). It is hard not to believe
in the sincerity of her account, as she writes, "If
I am self-deceived, it does not follow that I am guilty of imposition. If I
am diseased in mind, am I not an object of pity, rather than scoff?".
The language throughout is not at all what one would expect from a girl of thirteen,
but then, by all accounts, she was a rather extraordinary girl!
The middle section of the book, up to page 169, couched
- rather unfortunately, I feel - in the form of an imaginary dialogue, discusses
the case with reference to various authorities and citing numerous similar cases
on record. There follow testimonies of some of those appointed to watch Elizabeth
Squirrell and judge the veracity of her case. Then come various letters, medical
statements, extracts from Squirrell's diary, etc.
The International Genealogical Index confirms that Elizabeth's
parents - Asaph and Martha - were married in Ipswich in 1835, though there is
no record of them having had any children. Even so, the array of correspondence
and medical and other opinion confirms pretty conclusively that she did indeed
exist. Just for example, there is the testimony of David Geoffrey Goyder (pp.
176-79), who writes, "I have never seen so much beauty
and sweetness, blended with so much meekness of wisdom, as in the case of this
young girl. I am in no wise disposed to discredit her assertion, that she is
in communication with angels. I believe I have been made better by being permitted
to hold conversation with her, and by the confidence with which she speaks of
the bright and glorious spirit-land." Goyder was
born in 1831. He published commentaries on the Bible and lectures on Freemasonry.
The authenticity of his testimony is not really open to dispute. The chief weakness
of the whole account lies, I think, in the anonymity of the editorial hand.
Whoever compiled these observations was not willing to risk his (or her) professional
reputation by putting a name to them.
-SYNGE, Margaret Bertha. A Helping Hand, by M.B. Synge Author of "Jem's
Wife," "Granny," "A Child of the Mews," &c. &c. (London, Edinburgh and
New York; Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1898). 12mo, 192 pp. The only library copy
I can trace is held by the British library. First edition.
A religious novel, extolling
temperance/abstinence. The hero has fallen to the depths through alcohol, but
raised to grace again through the offices of a pious woman and his own basically
decent nature.
-THOMAS, Edith Matilda. The Round Year by Edith M.
Thomas (Boston and New York; Houghton, Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press,
Cambridge, 1886). 12mo, 296 pp. + ads. First edition.
Reflections on the wonders and
beauty of nature.
-[THURSTON, Lucy Goodman]. The Missionary's
Daughter; A Memoir of Lucy Goodman Thurston, of the Sandwich Islands (New York;
American Tract Society, 150 Nassau-Street, n.d., copyright 1842 by A.P. Cummings).
Youth's Library, No. 20. 16mo, 219 pp. + ads. Later printing, probably c.
1850, judging from the ads at the back of the book.
Biography, based on journal and
letters. The first edition (also by the American Tract society) had eleven black
and white plates, unfortunately absent in this edition, which is basically just
a reading copy. The book was actually written by A.P. Cummings, editor of the
New York Observer, with several introductory chapters followed by extracts from
Lucy Goodman's journal and letters. She was just seventeen when she died,
three weeks after arriving in the United States, and this memoir tells of her
life in Hawaii. One would like to have had her unexpurgated journal and letters,
rather than having them edited by a man who sees the people of Hawai as "a
nation of ignorant, degraded, naked savages", except
where enlightened by Christianity. The extracts in Lucy Goodman's own words
are much the more interesting parts of the book, giving a fascinating insight
into daily life. She tells us, for example, that in 1837 Chief Kuakini, the
governor of Hawaii, "enacted several laws with reference
to the church. After two months, no woman will be allowed to enter it without
a bonnet...Any one caught asleep, is rapped on the forehead with a long cane.
He has also made a law for his own yard. Any woman entering it without a bonnet
is condemned to have her hair shorn off close to her head."
The following year Kuakini "commenced a factory in
this village for spinning and weaving cotton".
Thurston began writing her journal at the age of eight, and in it she records
that from the age of nine or ten she was a teacher of "little
native girls", some of whom became close friends.
One of them wrote a letter to her (in Hawaiian, which she learned alongside
Latin) five years later, when she was in Honolulu, which is also included (with
a translation) in the book.
- TUCKER, Maria Charlotte (1821-1893). Precepts in Practice; or, Stories Illustrating
the Proverbs by A.L.O.E., authoress of "Claremont Tales," "Adopted Son," "Young
Pilgrim," "Giant Killer and Sequel," "Needle and Rat," "Flora," "Eddy Ellerslie
and the Mine," etc., etc. (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, No. 520 Broadway.
1867). OCLC lists 13 copies in 5 editions between 1859 and 1894, but does not
list this edition.
Moral tales.
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874). Untitled manuscript (juvenilia). A small notebook
(watermarked 1810) containing 42 neatly-penned pages, the first part of a work
of fiction, probably penned by the author at the age of about 12-15. Unsigned.
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874). Manuscript letter to her sister Eliza, during her
second admission to Morningside Lunatic Asylum (she was admitted a total of
six times in the course of her life.
"Royal Lunatic Asylum
"Morningside 14th March, 1856
"My dear Eliza
"I learn from Miss MacDougall that Catherine is anxious
that you shouldn't go to Whitburn - I wish to know what is your objection
to remaining at home. I have done what I could for your good and all connected
with me, and if I have been severely punished, for these two months, by intense
bodily suffering in consequence of the brutal treatment I have received at the
hands of the Attendants [underlined twice] as well as at the
hands of the ladies whom they are paid for attending, I could not wish my greatest
enemies, if I durst wish an ill wish with here or hereafter.
"Our beloved Aunt the only object of my heart's affections
is now safe in the bosom of her father and my father, of your God and her God.
God forgive you and Mrs. Mitchell for your ignorance. Love to Susana. If you
allow me to remain here another day I will speak out my mind and affront both
you and Catherine [in fact, the hospital records show she remained there
for a further four months].
"I see by the papers that our William's Jenny has twins
and one of them is dead. I hope Mrs. Donaldson and Mrs Alexr. Donaldson are
well. I have not forgotten the Kit.. If any ill comes over him I never
will forgive it. I think I like [? word partially obscured by tear in paper]
him sitting like a sixpenny tray on the mantelpiece. I cannot be amused, you
are aware of that, with trifles.
"Dr. Young says that you were entirely the cause of his
decoying me out to this den of deadly sin - I repeat, if you allow me to stay
another day I shall make you repent it. I thought Auntie's death would have
softened your heart. It has petrified mine to stone. The [?] with the
exception of the old man are base hypocrites. Mrs. Parker wrote me a long letter
which I gave to Dr. Skae. Dr. Young in his note said he was a respectable man.
Miss MacDonald is not looking well. I mentioned to her yesterday her changing
the old green lantern 4/6 for making. She said it was the House did it.
I am your[s] affly. Grace Webster."
There is also a continuation
of the letter in the margins:
"Has Kingcaldrum each called
with the shilling? I gave Mrs. Parker her jelly cup before I left town.
I hope Grace Green's letter was carefully laid by. It was in the drawing
room on the top of the books.
"I regret your giving me the credit of drinking all your
whisky and wine as well as all the ale and porter. Temple Bar has a tongue in
her head, as well as some of your other comrades. You know my Aunt was my example
and pattern as well as she is now my Guardian Angel."
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874). Manuscript translation
of the 6th book of the Aeneid. Grace Webster's translation of Virgil was
apparently published (it is listed among her works in her obituary notice in
The Scotsman, March 14th, 1874), but I can find no record of it.
Translation from the Latin.
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874). Ingliston. By Grace Webster (Edinburgh; William
Tait, Prince's Street. Simpkin, Marshall & Co., London; and John Cumming,
Dublin, 1840). Octavo, 401 pp. First edition.
Novel. An excellent piece of
fiction, with characters and events drawn closely to life. A forgotten masterpiece
(at least, I think so!)
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874), editor. The Practice of Piety, Directing a Christian
how to Walk, that he may Please God. By Lewis Bayly, D.D. Bishop of Bangor.
New Edition, with a biographical preface by the editor, Grace Webster (London;
printed for Hamilton, Adams, & Co., Paternoster Row; Edinburgh; Charles
Smith, Prince's Street, 1842). 12mo xxxvi + 343 pp. + ii. First edition.
Edition of a 17th century religious
work. Bayly enjoyed great popularity in his day and into the 17th century. One
of the letters to Grace Webster in my possession is from a friend who congratulates
her on this publication, but remarks that its author will never achieve the
kind of popularity he once had.
-WEBSTER, Grace (1802-1874). A Skeleton Novel; or, The Undercurrent of Society,
part one (of three) only (manually-corrected proof; the novel itself was published
in 1866). Octavo, 165 pp.
Novel. A genuinely experimental
work. For example, a character is drawn in some detail, and we see her
led by trickery into a disastrous marriage. Then, reflecting that "the
records of suffering are mere reproductions or duplicates of what has gone before",
she jumps nine chapters and picks up the story just after the young lady's
untimely death. She comments, with fine disdain for the literary establishment,
"if there be not continuity in the narrative, there
is at least congruity, which the intelligent reader can easily see. But the
general reader will best judge of its merits when the critics have told him
what he ought to think of it…"
In addition to the above I have
some 130 letters written to Grace Webster or other members of her family, one
or two letters that appear to have been written by her but are signed only with
initials, her visiting card, her quill pen, offprints of reviews, the two manuscript
works and proof copy of A Skeleton Novel listed above and other material, all
of which was discovered in the chimney of an old house in Edinburgh.When I heard
of this discovery I was intrigued, and immediately got hold of a copy of Ingliston,
which I read expecting to be disappointed (after all, no one has heard of Grace
Webster today). On the contrary, it was one of the best reads I had had for
a long time, and is perhaps the first novel in English to convey unequivocally
the message that a bastard can be as good as anybody else and a lot better than
many. As such, it is of historical as well as literary importance, and I hope
to interest a publisher (a university press, perhaps?) in reprinting it.
On the basis of enjoying Ingliston I went ahead and bought
the archive (i.e., the material from the chimney). I also managed to get hold
of a copy of her edition of Lewis Bayly's work. Others of her works (which include
several novels, memoirs, tracts, etc.), I have only been able to gain access
to through research libraries. One of her works, Memoir of Dr. C. Webster ...
with an Account of Dr. A. Webster, is a history of her family and, together
with that and online genealogical sources, I have been able to piece together
her family tree.
She was of an illustrious Edinburgh family (both Charles
and Alexander Webster have entries in the DNB), but suffered a reversal of her
economic fortunes when a disastrous lawsuit ruined her and her immediate relatives.
She also fell victim to the recurrent insanity that her mother had suffered
from. Despite early recognition, these twin afflictions relegated her to obscurity,
and I probably know more about her than anyone alive! I am hoping that some
publisher will show an interest in reprinting Ingliston, and am working on transcribing
the letters (or at least the more interesting ones), which are a fascinating
insight into Victorian life (for example, shortly after receiving a cheque from
the Fund for Indigent Gentlewomen she received a letter thanking her for the
bag of coal she had given to someone even poorer than herself).
-WORBOISE, Emma Jane. Margaret Torrington; or, The Voyage of Life (London;
James Clarke & Co., 13 Fleet Street; Jackson, Walford, & Hodder, Paternoster
Row, 1879). Octavo, 461 pp. + ads. Later edition (first edition was 1868).
A religious novel, with elements of
romantic fiction. the plot is well-constructed and the characters well-rounded,
but the narrative is somewhat held up by the fact that the central characters
regularly digress into language more suited to the pulpit than everyday discourse.
-WRIGHT, Julia McNair. Patriot and Tory: One Hundred Years Ago. A Tale
of the Revolution (Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, 1876).
Copyright 1876. Octavo, 548 pp. + ads. Illustrated. First edition.
Historical novel. The author actually
denies that it is a novel, and claims that it is a chronicle, saying "Certain
facts about this work must be noted. It is intended to be, and is, a careful
representation...of the manners, daily lives, style of speech [etc.]...of
Americans - one hundred years ago" (preface). The
publishers, too, include their own "introductory note" claiming the historical
veracity of the account, and the first chapter claims that the manuscript was
written by the author's great grandmother, given to the British Museum and
copied by hand by Mrs. Wright - all of which is a fictitious pretence!
-ZAKRZEWSKA, Marie E[lizabeth]., M.D. (1829-1902).
A Practical Illustration of "Woman's Right to Labor;" or, a letter from Marie
E. Zakraewska, M.D., late of Berlin, Prussia. Edited by Caroline [Wells]
H[ealey] Dall (Boston; Walker, Wise and Company, 245 Washington Street,
1860). Octavo, 8+167+1 pp. First edition.
Autobiography. A seminal feminist
work, the text of which can be found online HERE.
Zakrzewska was an active campaigner for women's rights as well as being highly
influential in American medicine. Mary Roth Walsh describes her as "one
of the most influential female physicians of the 19th century. In many ways
she played a greater role in developing careers for women in American medicine
than the more famous Blackwell sisters" (Doctors Wanted: No Women Need
Apply, p. 76). There are numerous web pages that give details of her life.
Caroline Dall published Woman's Right to Labor in
the same year (1860). She adds a brief introduction and postscript to Zakrzewska's
work. A useful account of her life and writings, together with links to related
sites, can be found HERE.
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