Williams, Helen Maria
£3,585
Rare Books, Maps, Manuscripts & Photographs
Auction: 10 January 2007 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Julia, a Novel. London: T. Cadell, 1790, first edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, contemporary half calf with marbled sides, red morocco lettering pieces, black morocco volume pieces, slight spotting in volume 2, head of spine of volume 2 very slightly rubbed
Footnote
Note: Helen Maria Williams (1762-1827), radical thinker, ardent abolitionist and revolutinary idealist, was born in 1761 to a Scottish mother, Helen Hay. In London Andrew Kippis introduced her to literary and political circles which included Joseph Priestly, Wiliam Godwin, Sarah Siddons, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Charlotte Smith and Mary Wollstonecraft. Her novel Julia, an early endorsement of the French Revolution, led to her philosophical conflict with Edmund Burke and The British Critic.
Provenance: Sir Henry Hay Makdougall Bart. of Makestoun, armorial bookplates.