A Philosophical, Historical, and Moral Essay on Old Maids. By a Friend to the Sisterhood
by [HAYLEY (William):
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
LONDON, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Printed for T. Cadell..., 1785. FIRST EDITION. 3 volumes. 8vo, 178 x 110 mms. pp. [iii] - xix [xx blank], 261 [262 blank]; [ii], 250; [ii], 255 [256 blank], attractively bound in full contemporary calf, ornate gilt borders on covers, neatly rebaccked with spine richly and ornately gilt in compartments, black leather labels laid down, marbled edges and end-papers; lacks half-titles, some very slight flaws to binding but a very good to near fine set. John Johnson, the editor of Memoirs of the Life and Writings of William Hayley (1823), records that "Never was a book projected and written with more guileless or more benevolent intentions, yet a host of prudes and hypocrites railed against it, as immoral and irreligious.... Conscious of his pure intentions in composing the essay, he only smiled at the mistake of those rigid ladies who reviled the production as indecent and irreligious; and he exulted in the warm applause of several most accomplished and candid members of the sisterhood, who regarded and extolled it as an elegant and moral performance, that truly deserved, not the censure, but the thanks and the esteem of their society." In their article on William Hayley (1745-1820), the Oxford DNB notes that among his anonymously published works was his "Essay on Old Maids (3 vols., 1785) -- which, although deemed 'indelicate' (Bishop, 90) and affronting many, sold well". The DNB is silent on the connection between William Hayley and the dedicatee of this three-volume treatise: the pioneering woman poet and classical scholar Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), who, unmarried and, at this time, 68 years of age, was herself in the category under discussion.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Price Antiquarian Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 10255
- Title
- A Philosophical, Historical, and Moral Essay on Old Maids. By a Friend to the Sisterhood
- Author
- [HAYLEY (William):
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London: Printed for T. Cadell..., 1785
- Keywords
- manners morality prose women
- Bookseller catalogs
- manners;
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
John Price Antiquarian Books
Payment by cheque, credit card, cash. New customers will be invoiced pro forma. Books may be returned within two weeks for any reason; refund within 1 month for any reason; negotiable after that, but no returns after one year.
About the Seller
John Price Antiquarian Books
Biblio member since 2006
LONDON
About John Price Antiquarian Books
I work from home, but I am happy to see customers at almost any time by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...