Personal Recollections
[ Tonna ], Charlotte Elizabeth
| Publication Date | 1843 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | John S. Taylor, |
| Binding | Hardback |
| Condition | Good copy |
| SKU | 21398 |
| Notes | The inscription is hard to read, though clearly dated, and inscribed as ‘from’ which is written before the printed author name so it does not have a signature to end the inscription. Dark green cloth is heavily decorated in gilt to the spine and blind impressed to both boards. Gilt is bright but there are at least 6 small patches of surface loss to the spine and some wear to the spine ends. The boards have minor marks and are surface scuffed. There is a section roughly cut from the fixed front endaper, presumably removing a previous owner’s name, and has left exposed board. Binding is sound. Text is somewhat foxed. |
Description
Hardback. 357pp. Inscribed by the author, dated March 1844. Described by Dr Teresa Walker as “part personal memoir, part travelogue and part near fiction. Moreover, her memoirs give us a fascinating glimpse into the life of an extraordinary woman — a woman with a social conscience and a number of causes to champion — living at a time of great social change and progress”. This the memoir of writer Charlotte Elizabeth (born Browne, then Phelan and later Tonna) who used the pen name Charlotte Elizabeth to escape her abusive first husband. English born Charlotte Elizabeth married an Irishman, and began her writing career in Dublin. She wrote extensively on women's rights as well as in the service of evangelical Protestant thought as well as children’s stories. Very hard to find anything inscribed by Tonna. First US edition. Tonna wrote only under her Christian names as she wish to hide her income from her abusive then-husband, Phelan which prior to the Married Women's Property Act 1882 would have belonged to him.
