My Mind and Its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays
Boston: Wells and Lilly, 1823. First edition. Front jointcracked, but cords sound. Later typewritten ownership plate on front pastedown: “Mr. J.H. Lowe., W. Newbarry, Mass. End paper foxed, occasional light foxing. Otherwise a very good, large copy, rare in original boards. Original boards, uncut, rebacked in later paper boards. Early ink ownership marks on front free endpaper: “William Carr. West Newburry [Mass.] 1829.”. Octavo. xx, 295 pp. Item #17840
Sarah Wentworth Morton (1759-1856) is considered one of the most important American poets between Bradford and Dickinson. She published her work in Massachusetts Magazine under the pseudonyms “Constantia” and “Philenia, Lady of Boston” (1879). She was also the only woman in Elihu Smith’s first American anthology (1793). The themes of her work are focused on pain, loss, and infidelity. Morton wrote sonnets (rare in the U.S.) and hymns; she was also an abolitionist, though she did not support the idea of women’s rights as espoused by Mary Wollstonecraft. Morton was a friend to both John and Abigail Adams.
Morton’s last work, My Mind and Its Thoughts, in Sketches, Fragments, and Essays, was a project of self-analysis. It is a combination of essays and poetry, containing over 80 poems, with titles such as “Love and Glory” and “Simple Address to my Home.” BAL 14565. American Imprints 13411. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English by Blain, Grundy, and Clements; The Oxford Companion to Women’s Writing in the United States by Davidson and Wagner-Martin.
Price: $1,250.00