Fruits of Retirement: or, Miscellaneous Poems, Moral and Divine: being Contemplations, Letters, &c. written on Variety of Subjects and Occasions

Book Description

London: Printed and Sold by Luke Hinde, 1761. [xl], 174, [2]pp., 8vo. With a terminal leaf of advertisements, contemporary ownership inscription “Mary James” at head of title. Modern half calf. Fifth edition, first published in 1702, of a fine series of poems on, as The Feminist Companion to Literature in English puts it, "friendship and marriage, the power of words, and need for modesty in both sexes; her vivid images include that of a sucking child." She met her husband in Lancaster Castle, where they had both been jailed for attending Quaker meetings. After a debate with a bishop and other dignitaries, the authorities stated she had “so much Learning, it makes her mad.” For earlier editions of this work, see NCBEL II, 478. Seven copies of this edition in ESTC.

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