The Romance Of Real Life

Philadelphia, PA: Printed By J. Carrey. Fair. 1799. Hardcover. This book is in Fair only condition. Full leather. Both front and rear covers are hanging on by their strings - the hinges have perished. The spine is missing the leather on both top and bottom end, though the leather title label is still present. The text block itself is in solid condition and is neatly sewn in. Missing the front endpapers and any initial pages before the half title page. The half title page includes a previous owner's inked name and date (Isaac Stevens, Boston, August 11th, 1811). Page v of the introduction has a previous owner's sewn repair to a long tear (very neat stitching and a tidy repair) . The rear endpaper, and possibly one other page have been torn out. According to Worldcat the description is: [2], v, [2], 8-333, [1] pages. 16 cm or 18mo. (in this case, minus the torn out pages from the front of the book, and the rear of the book). Page 106 is misnumbered as page 16, and page 142 is misnumbered as page 241. The text pages are generally clean and solid, though there is foxing throughout. "Charlotte Turner Smith (4 May 1749 – 28 October 1806) was an English novelist and a Romantic poet, who initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped to set the conventions for Gothic fiction and wrote political novels of sensibility. She wrote ten novels, three poetry books, four children's books and other works, but saw herself primarily as a poet, poetry being seen the most exalted form of literature at the time. Scholars credit her with turning the sonnet into an expression of woeful sentiment. In adulthood, she eventually left her husband Benjamin Smith and began writing to support their children. Her struggle to do so and vain efforts to gain legal protection as a woman gave themes for her poetry and novels; she included portraits of herself and her family, and details of her life in her prefaces. Her early novels exercise aesthetic development, particularly the Gothic and sentimentality." (from Wikipedia) , and: "After Benjamin Smith was released from prison, the entire family moved to Dieppe, France to avoid further creditors. Charlotte returned to negotiate with them, but failed to come to an agreement. She went back to France and in 1784 began translating works from French into English. In 1787 she published The Romance of Real Life, consisting of translated selections from François Gayot de Pitaval's trials. She was forced to withdraw her other translation, Manon Lescaut, after it was argued that the work was immoral and plagiarised. In 1786, she published it anonymously. " (also from Wikipedia) .