![“Randall, Anne Frances” [Mary Robinson]](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/104cbde6-0d38-43cb-9e0f-bb721ef57bcf/inventory/6151c46f-9c3a-48b9-a8cf-04aec7c7f2d8/a8014f41-dc86-4259-91a8-f663419f72d1/0001_AERmLo_original.jpg)
“Randall, Anne Frances” [Mary Robinson]
A Letter to the Women of England on the injustice of Mental Subordination…
£20,160
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 07 February 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
London: T.N. Longman, and O. Rees, 1799. First edition, 8vo, contemporary quarter calf over limp boards, ownership signature cut from free-endpaper, lacking half-title, a little dust-soiling and spotting, upper cover detached
Footnote
SALEROOM NOTICE - FRONT COVER NOW DETACHED
An exceptionally rare first edition of an early feminist text
Robinson was all too familiar with the patriarchal constraints that prevented women from success in her era. During her time as an actress, Robinson caught the attention of the Prince of Wales, future George IV, who offered her twenty thousand pounds to become his mistress. After spoiling her reputation and ending her career in theatre, he refused to pay the promised amount and she was forced to rely on her own ingenuity to survive.
The challenges faced by Robinson fueled her fire: she became known as “the English Sappho” for her writings. She was a prolific poet, an eight-time novelist, a playwright, and a political activist. In A letter to the women of England, Robinson argues for the intellectual liberation of women across England. She asks of the reader: “is not woman a human being, gifted with all the feelings that inhabit the bosom of man?” She lists important women in history to highlight how key women were in making England and finishes her Letter with an index of contemporary authoresses to prove that women authors are as successful as men.
In this first edition, we see an interesting piece of this text’s history still remaining: the pseudonym. In the second edition, Robinson used her own name and placed an advertisement at the start revealing she was Anne Frances Randall all along. Once she had been assured of her book’s popularity to the point where it had merited a second print run, she claimed her work. In this edition, Robinson deliberately misled readers by placing herself in the index of authoresses and took great pains to hide her identity. [ESTC N033704]
Only 5 known copies, 2 of which are in the UK.