Details
WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary. Mary, a fiction, London, for J. Johnson, 1788, 8°, FIRST EDITION, manuscript correction on p. 178 perhaps in the hand of the author (lacking half title, the manuscript correction cropped at margin, B1 rather soiled and stained, some subsequent leaves also lightly soiled or stained at margins), contemporary calf, covers with two line gilt rule (rebacked), bookplate of Anne & F.G. Renier. [Windle 2]
This pseudo memoir is Mary Wollstonecraft's first novel, written in the summer of 1787 during her employment as an obscure governess in the family of an Irish lord, and closely-tied to her personal experience. One of the earliest radical novels, it explores the conflict between sense and sensibility in the heroine's mind, and also tries to tackle the problem of the escapist nature of much contemporary fiction, largely written for a female audience.
This pseudo memoir is Mary Wollstonecraft's first novel, written in the summer of 1787 during her employment as an obscure governess in the family of an Irish lord, and closely-tied to her personal experience. One of the earliest radical novels, it explores the conflict between sense and sensibility in the heroine's mind, and also tries to tackle the problem of the escapist nature of much contemporary fiction, largely written for a female audience.