first edition Contemporary calf with a gilt-ruled and gilt-lettered burgundy spine label
March 1803
by Gibbons, Thomas
London: By Daniel Dana, A.M. Newburyport: Printed for the Subscribers by Angier March 1803 First edition, thus. Dana revised Thomas Gibbons' text, the first edition of which was entitled Female Worthies; or, the Lives and Memoirs of Eminently Pious Women (1775/1776)...because he felt that "certain obvious infelicities attached to the work seem much calculated to obstruct its circulation and usefulness. To remedy these infelicities, has been the aim of the editor of this volume." (Preface). . Contemporary calf with a gilt-ruled and gilt-lettered burgundy spine label. Twelvemo. Binding extremities have some rubbings and wear. Front joint is cracked, but sound. Gilt on spine is slightly faded. Light foxing and browning, slight offsetting, and intermittent slight dampstaining. Small tear to lower margin of page 57, not affecting text. Small hole on page 113, slightly affecting text. Small marginal hole and stain on page 349, resulting in the less of a few letters. Small marginal stain on page 351, affecting text. Contemporary bookplate on front end pastedown and contemporary signature on preliminary blank. A very good copy. Daniel Dana (1771-1859) further states, "the usefulness of biography is equally obvious and acknowledged. No species of writing seems so happily calculated at once to inform the mind, to improve the taste, to meliorate the heart. By exhibiting goodness in an alluring but practical form; by presenting excellence actually attained, with the various means and steps to its acquisition; it furnishes us with some of the best possible excitements to be what we ought to be." (Preface). The women featured in Dana's revision include Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Catharine Parr, and others. The majority of the subjects are of English nobility.
(Inventory #: 16249)