Among the earliest texts on Gender Equality: Owen Felltham's Resolves - 1670

Felltham, Owen. Resolves: Divine, Moral Political. London: A. Seile, 1670. First Edition, Ninth Impression. With additions both in prove and verse. Consisting of 364 pages of Resolves, with an additional 98 pages consisting of the poem Lusoria and then letters by Felltham. Includes his important essay "Of Woman." The Resolves were very popular at the time, though Feltham's stance on gender was progressive for Renaissance England, and his accusation of hypocrisy rankled a portion of his audience: "When a woman grows bold and daring, we dislike her, and say, she is too like a man : yet in our selves, we magnify what we condemn. Is not this injustice?" Feltham was still a teenager when he published his first edition of Resolves in 1623. This collection of essays played a crucial role in the development of the English essay as a genre. The original edition included 100 "resolves" that were considered to be short, aphoristic commentaries on aspects of the three realms delineated by the title: divine, ethical, and political. They concerned in equal measure the private and public realms of middle-class English life. Later revisions reflect how Feltham attempted to amalgamate these three distinct dimensions of "middle-class English life"-divine, ethical and political-into a more cohesive context. This tolerance is perhaps best demonstrated in regards to the ubiquitous Woman Question, a debate which continued to play a large role in the social atmosphere of Renaissance Britain. While most men viewed the women in rigid terms-as either "unconstant" or "excellent"- Feltham is notable for preferring to "[accept] some assumptions about gender but [question] many others: he asks commonsense questions and is willing to look beyond stereotypes." This copy has leather covers that have splits along the spine - see photos. The front one has a tissue paper repair on the inside. The pages themselves are clean, tightly bound, with no foxing. The frontis piece is missing and the bottom corners bumped. In good condition.