Familiar Letters on a Variety of Important and Interesting Subjects, from Lady Hariet Morley, and Others.
London: Printed for W. Strahan, and T. Caddel [sic.], 1773. First edition. The present work collects over a hundred letters by the fictional Lady Hariet Morley, who recounts didactic vignettes and opines on virtue, gambling, politics, poverty, and class. Without the list of subscribers present in some copies. Hinges cracking but holding firm. Rubbing to corners and head and tail of spine. Marbled endpapers. Contemporary ink signature to verso of front flyleaf. Some light toning and offsetting, but overall a very good, clean, and wide copy of this uncommon work on the conduct and character of women. Contemporary calf with gilt spine and red morocco spine label (reading “Morley’s Letters”). Octavo. viii, [4], 466 pp. Item #16920
In the dedication to Queen Charlotte, the author writes, “As the following pages were written with the honest view of promoting the interests and virtue…in the character of a lady, there appeared, to the author, great propriety in inscribing them to the highest example of those virtues which he wished to recommend….He wished to shew, in the clearest and strongest point of view, the fatal consequences of deviating from the paths of virtue.”.
Francis Douglas (ca. 1710 – 1790) was a Scottish bookseller and author. He wrote works on Scottish history, Scots-language poetry and fiction, recipes, tracts, and more. His other works include Reflections on Celibacy and Marriage (1771) and Observations on the Douglas Cause (1768).
Price: $350.00