AN ESSAY IN DEFENCE OF THE FEMALE SEX,; in which are inserted the characters of a pendant, a squire, a beau, a vertuoso, a poetaster, a city-critick, &c. in a letter to a lady. Written by a Lady.
London: A Roper and E[lizabeth] Wilkinson at the Black Boy, and R. Clavel at the Peacock, in Fleetstreet, 1696. First Edition. 8vo, pp. xxiv, 148, iv. Quire L exists in two known settings: last line of text on page 148 is 1) "the mean Performance of".On heavy paper. Bound in contemporary full calf, rebacked in calf, with raised bands, stamped in blind in gilt, with leather labels, new end papers. Leather abraded over edges and corners. A very good copy. Issued without the frontispiece which appears in some copies (we have had it both with and without). Dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark. Wing (rev) D2125A; CBEL II, 121, Kenner p. 169; ESTC R11541. Rare. Item #60581
This had been attributed to Mary Astell , author of A Serious Proposal to the Ladies and other works, but is now firmly attributed to Drake, whose name is listed as author in a Curll catalogue issued after 1741. The author was a conservative radical, tempted by fame though publishing under pseudonyms, consistently intellectual, sharply witty and quotable, always ready to step out of her way for a feminist point, incalculably influential, she was attacked by Swift, Centlivre and Cibber...[Blain p. 35]. Criticized as going too far and having too much warmth of temper, the author asserted that men feared the competition of women. The treatise, in fact, argues in favor of education for women and enters the debate on the intellectual abilities of women.
Price: $6,000.00