Nothing New! Or, the History of Miss Rivers in a series of Letters from a Lady to Her Friend.
Np: ca. 1770. 2 volumes, 8vo (175 x 105 mm). Autograph manuscript, 277 ll., written on the rectos only (with occasional additions on the opposing versos) in a strong feminine hand. Half calf over marlbled boards. Condition : extremities rubbed, joints repaired. An unpublished novel narrated by “Mrs. Middleton” in a series of lengthy letters to an unnamed "Ladyship." The virtuous heroine Miss Maria Rivers, “Young, Beautiful, and exposed to a thousand Dangers!” (32), is left orphaned and destitute in the first letter. Courted by a dishonorable suitor and persuaded to marry against her wishes, Miss Rivers enters into an intolerable living situation and must fight her way free. Despite significant misfortunes, she keeps her head high and ultimately prevails in a breathtaking conclusion à la Jane Austen. The epigram to both volumes, "Tho plunged in Ills, and exercised in Care,/ Yet never let the noble mind despair; /For Blessings ever wait on virtuous Deeds /And tho a late, a sure reward succeds,” is not only a fair summation of the novel, but also a hopeful aphorism about the Georgian society so aptly described in the present volumes. Such unpublished material from women authors at the time is scarce.
Nothing New! Or, the History of Miss Rivers in a series of Letters from a Lady to Her Friend.
Np: ca. 1770. 2 volumes, 8vo (175 x 105 mm). Autograph manuscript, 277 ll., written on the rectos only (with occasional additions on the opposing versos) in a strong feminine hand. Half calf over marlbled boards. Condition : extremities rubbed, joints repaired. An unpublished novel narrated by “Mrs. Middleton” in a series of lengthy letters to an unnamed "Ladyship." The virtuous heroine Miss Maria Rivers, “Young, Beautiful, and exposed to a thousand Dangers!” (32), is left orphaned and destitute in the first letter. Courted by a dishonorable suitor and persuaded to marry against her wishes, Miss Rivers enters into an intolerable living situation and must fight her way free. Despite significant misfortunes, she keeps her head high and ultimately prevails in a breathtaking conclusion à la Jane Austen. The epigram to both volumes, "Tho plunged in Ills, and exercised in Care,/ Yet never let the noble mind despair; /For Blessings ever wait on virtuous Deeds /And tho a late, a sure reward succeds,” is not only a fair summation of the novel, but also a hopeful aphorism about the Georgian society so aptly described in the present volumes. Such unpublished material from women authors at the time is scarce.
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