THE LADIES LIBRARY

London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1714. FIRST EDITION, special issue on thick paper. 170 x 95 mm. (6 5/8 x 3 3/4"). With [2] leaves of ads at end of volume II. Three volumes..
Quite pretty contemporary rose-colored morocco, gilt, covers with gilt rule border, oblique floral sprigs at corners, smooth spines divided into compartments with central floral sprig within a lozenge of small tools, turnip tool at corners, gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Each volume with engraved frontispiece portrait of the dedicatee (the Countess of Burlington in volume I, Mrs. Bovey in volume II, and Mrs. Richard Steele in volume III. Title page of each volume inscribed in ink "Eliza. Steele" (see below); front pastedowns with printed book label of Francis Wedgwood; verso of front free endpaper of volumes II and III with engraved armorial bookplate of James Maidment; front flyleaves of volume I with 19th century ink inscription regarding the identity of a dedicatee and information on provenance (supplemented in pencil by a later hand), and with ink signature of S. Maria Mosley; final blank in volumes I and II and title page in volume II with partially effaced ink inscription: "Rachel Lloyd her book given her by Mrs. Trevor [née Elizabeth Steele] August 5, 1733." ESTC T80462. See Blanchard, "Richard Steele and the Status of Women," in Studies in Philology, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 325-55 (1929). ◆About 20 leaves of the second volume with water(?) stain at top, reaching as far down as the third line, overall light browning throughout, infrequent variable (almost always minor) foxing to text, other trivial defects, but the text clean and fresh. Leather slightly varying in color (or faintly soiled?), otherwise very fine, showing virtually no wear. Not a bright internally, but still an extremely appealing copy and well preserved on the shelf.

This attractive copy of the deluxe printing of Steele's guide to education for women has especially significant provenance: it was originally owned by the author's eldest daughter and sole surviving child, Elizabeth Steele, no doubt intended to be one of the chief beneficiaries of the volume's wisdom. Founder of the periodicals "The Spectator," "The Tatler," and "The Guardian," Steele (1671-1729) was an advocate of improving the education offered to women, if for no other reason than to make them fit companions for educated men and fit mothers to raise intelligent children. He advertised "The Ladies Library" as "consisting of general rules for conduct in all the circumstances of the Life of Women." Although the title page insists it was "written by a lady," it is in fact compiled from selections of late 17th century moral guides for women, either by Steele himself or, in the opinion of DNB, bishop and philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753): "Berkeley undertook compilation of the three-volume Ladies Library (purporting to be 'by a Lady') for Tonson, for which Steele wrote a preface. This quite heavily edited set of readings on social convention, the family, and religion was intended to better women's education and social standing, and went through six editions in Berkeley's lifetime." The three volumes were dedicated to three respected women: Juliana Boyle, Countess of Burlington, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne and mother of architect Richard Boyle; Catherina Boevey, a wealthy, childless widow who devoted herself to philanthropy; and to Richard Steele's wife Mary. The lengthy note on the flyleaf of volume I offers information on Boevey, and observes that the frontispiece portrait of her (present in volume II here) is often torn out. This removal could perhaps relate to a suspected disapproval of her independent streak: despite being widowed at the age of 22, she never remarried, instead surrounding herself with intelligent female friends and using the vast fortunes she inherited from her husband and father to do good works (albeit while dressed in very fashionable clothes). Original owner Elizabeth Steele (1709-82) married Welsh judge John Trevor in 1732, and the following year presented these volumes to Rachel Lloyd. Our copy was later in the 5,000-volume library of antiquary and collector James Maidment (bap. 1793, d. 1879); it seems likely the note on Mrs. Boevey and Elizabeth Steele was written by him. The set was also in the collection of Francis Wedgwood (1800-88), grandson of potter Josiah Wedgwood and head of the family porcelain firm. The book found its way into Wedgwood's library via his wife, Frances, whose mother was the S[arah] Maria Mosley who signed volume I..