LEE, Sophia (1750-1824)]. The Recess; or, a Tale of Other Times. By the Author of the Chapter of Accidents . London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1783-85.
LEE, Sophia (1750-1824)]. The Recess; or, a Tale of Other Times. By the Author of the Chapter of Accidents . London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1783-85. 12 o (147 x 90 mm). (Without half-titles.) Contemporary tree calf (some wear to edges and spine labels, joints starting.) Provenance : Richard Rocke of Trefnant(?) (inscription dated 1807 recording the gift of his library to his nephew on each title verso in the following's hand); Richard Rocke (signature on titles dated 1807). FIRST EDITION OF SOPHIA LEE'S MAJOR GOTHIC NOVEL. RARE FIRST ISSUE, with first volume dated 1783 and not indication of volume number, and with errata leaf at end of vol. 1, and errata for vols. 2 and 3 on verso of third title-page. Sophia Lee was born in London in 1750, the second of the five children of two busy, though struggling, actors, John and Anna Sophia Lee. While in debtors' prison with her father in 1772, Sophia Lee planned her first play, entitled The Chapter of Accidents (1780). She had previously written a novel, but "it was not until her father was on his deathbed, leaving his four daughters without prospect of any provision, however, that she overcame her reluctance to publish." After prolonged negotiations the elder George Colman (1732-1794) finally produced it to great acclaim at the Haymarket Theatre on 5 August 1780. The serio-comic play earned Lee enough money to finance a girls' school in Bath, where she and her three sisters had settled after her father's death. "Although she first achieved fame as a playwright, her greatest work is The Recess, or, A Tale of Other Times (3 vols., 1783-5), a novel exploring the conflict between Elizabeth I and Mary queen of Scots told through the eyes of Mary's fictional daughters. It enjoyed immense popularity for many years and was translated into five languages. Its success established the taste for both Gothic and historical fiction, of which it is one of the earliest examples in English literature" ( ODNB ). Bleiler, p. 27 (1786 second edition); Block, p. 135; Summers, pp. 473-74. (3)
LEE, Sophia (1750-1824)]. The Recess; or, a Tale of Other Times. By the Author of the Chapter of Accidents . London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1783-85.
LEE, Sophia (1750-1824)]. The Recess; or, a Tale of Other Times. By the Author of the Chapter of Accidents . London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1783-85. 12 o (147 x 90 mm). (Without half-titles.) Contemporary tree calf (some wear to edges and spine labels, joints starting.) Provenance : Richard Rocke of Trefnant(?) (inscription dated 1807 recording the gift of his library to his nephew on each title verso in the following's hand); Richard Rocke (signature on titles dated 1807). FIRST EDITION OF SOPHIA LEE'S MAJOR GOTHIC NOVEL. RARE FIRST ISSUE, with first volume dated 1783 and not indication of volume number, and with errata leaf at end of vol. 1, and errata for vols. 2 and 3 on verso of third title-page. Sophia Lee was born in London in 1750, the second of the five children of two busy, though struggling, actors, John and Anna Sophia Lee. While in debtors' prison with her father in 1772, Sophia Lee planned her first play, entitled The Chapter of Accidents (1780). She had previously written a novel, but "it was not until her father was on his deathbed, leaving his four daughters without prospect of any provision, however, that she overcame her reluctance to publish." After prolonged negotiations the elder George Colman (1732-1794) finally produced it to great acclaim at the Haymarket Theatre on 5 August 1780. The serio-comic play earned Lee enough money to finance a girls' school in Bath, where she and her three sisters had settled after her father's death. "Although she first achieved fame as a playwright, her greatest work is The Recess, or, A Tale of Other Times (3 vols., 1783-5), a novel exploring the conflict between Elizabeth I and Mary queen of Scots told through the eyes of Mary's fictional daughters. It enjoyed immense popularity for many years and was translated into five languages. Its success established the taste for both Gothic and historical fiction, of which it is one of the earliest examples in English literature" ( ODNB ). Bleiler, p. 27 (1786 second edition); Block, p. 135; Summers, pp. 473-74. (3)
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