Elizabeth Robins Pennell — Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin

London, W. H. Allen & Co. 1885 . First edition. Cloth. A very scarce first edition of this significant biography of Mary Wollstonecraft from Elizabeth Robins Pennell. First edition. In the publisher's original green cloth binding. A fascinating installment in John H. Ingram's Eminent Women Series, this being the first book of Elizabeth Robins Pennell, a highly regarded American writer on a range of topics, including art, food, biography and travelogues. This significant biography of Mary Wollstonecraft was the first since that of Wollstonecraft's husband, the writer, William Godwin, published only one year after her death. Best remembered for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which became a foundational feminist text, Wollstonecraft was also the mother of the prominent Romantic and Gothic writer, Mary Shelley. In the publisher's original green cloth binding. Two bookplates to the front paste down, one of which is obscuring the former. Ex-libris copy with archival markings also to the bookplates and paste down, accompanied by the additional plate of Wellbeck Galleries, Ltd. (Cardiff). Externally, smart with slight bumping and rubbing, resulting in minor loss of cloth to the extremities, the odd mark, and more prominent creasing to the front board. Internally, firmly bound. Reasonably bright and clean with sporadic spotting, visibly heavier to the first and last few pages, in particular, to the two title pages. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .