A Short Residence in Sweden by Wollstonecraft, First Edition (10 results)

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. In these two closely linked works - a travel book and a biography of its author - we witness a moving encounter between two of the most daring and original minds of the late eighteenth century- A Short Residence in Sweden is the record of Wollstonecraft's last journey in search of happiness, into the remote and beautiful backwoods of Scandinavia. The quest for a lost treasure ship, the pain of a wrecked love affair, memories of the French Revolution, and the longing for some Golden Age, all shape this vivid narrative, which Richard Holmes argues is one of the neglected masterpieces of early English Romanticism.Memoirs is Godwin's own account of Wollstonecraft's life, written with passionate intensity a few weeks after her tragic death. Casting aside literary convention, Godwin creates an intimate portrait of his wife, startling in its candour and psychological truth. Received with outrage by friends and critics alike, and virtually suppressed for a century, it can now be recognized as one of the landmarks in the development of modern biography. Includes a travel book and a biography of its author. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

1st edition. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-dulled dust wrapper. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Description; xxiv, 200 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. Notes; Bibliography: p. [xxiii]-xxiv. Subjects; Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797--Travel--Scandinavia. Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797--Correspondence. Imlay, Gilbert, 1754?-1828?--Correspondence. Authors, English--18th century--Correspondence. Feminists--Great Britain--Correspondence. Scandinavia--Description and travel--Early works to 1800. 1 Kg.

1st edition. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-dulled dust wrapper. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Description; xxiv, 200 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. Notes; Bibliography: p. [xxiii]-xxiv. Subjects; Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797--Travel--Scandinavia. Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759-1797--Correspondence. Imlay, Gilbert, 1754?-1828?--Correspondence. Authors, English--18th century--Correspondence. Feminists--Great Britain--Correspondence. Scandinavia--Description and travel--Early works to 1800. 1 Kg.

8vo. pp xxiv, 200. Large format paperback. ISBN: 0803208626 Very good.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. In these two closely linked works - a travel book and a biography of its author - we witness a moving encounter between two of the most daring and original minds of the late eighteenth century- A Short Residence in Sweden is the record of Wollstonecraft's last journey in search of happiness, into the remote and beautiful backwoods of Scandinavia. The quest for a lost treasure ship, the pain of a wrecked love affair, memories of the French Revolution, and the longing for some Golden Age, all shape this vivid narrative, which Richard Holmes argues is one of the neglected masterpieces of early English Romanticism.Memoirs is Godwin's own account of Wollstonecraft's life, written with passionate intensity a few weeks after her tragic death. Casting aside literary convention, Godwin creates an intimate portrait of his wife, startling in its candour and psychological truth. Received with outrage by friends and critics alike, and virtually suppressed for a century, it can now be recognized as one of the landmarks in the development of modern biography. Includes a travel book and a biography of its author. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. In these two closely linked works - a travel book and a biography of its author - we witness a moving encounter between two of the most daring and original minds of the late eighteenth century- A Short Residence in Sweden is the record of Wollstonecraft's last journey in search of happiness, into the remote and beautiful backwoods of Scandinavia. The quest for a lost treasure ship, the pain of a wrecked love affair, memories of the French Revolution, and the longing for some Golden Age, all shape this vivid narrative, which Richard Holmes argues is one of the neglected masterpieces of early English Romanticism.Memoirs is Godwin's own account of Wollstonecraft's life, written with passionate intensity a few weeks after her tragic death. Casting aside literary convention, Godwin creates an intimate portrait of his wife, startling in its candour and psychological truth. Received with outrage by friends and critics alike, and virtually suppressed for a century, it can now be recognized as one of the landmarks in the development of modern biography. Includes a travel book and a biography of its author. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Black Cloth. Condition: VG-Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: VG(+). 1st thus, original 1796. xv+facs. original text (though not t.p.):(2, 'Advertisement')+262+(4, Appendix and Notes); faint brown strips to endpapers offset from jacket wraparounds, otherwise clean, tight, unworn & unmarked inside and out; jacket clipped but otherwise near pristine (will add protective sleeve when ordered). Note: quoted shipping rates are calculated for 500-700 gram net weight, cost will be modified up or down as appropriate outside this range. Size: 14.5 Cm x 22 Cm.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1796. First American edition. Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein), was a writer, philosopher and women's rights advocate, best-known for "A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Wollstonecraft was perhaps better known during her life and after her death for her unconventional personal relationships, but she has lately been recognized as an important early influence on the feminist movement. 12mo period full calf with a red morocco spine label. General wear to the spine, but sound. Former owner's name excised from the top of the title page. Some pages with light staining, but generally very good, especially considering the cheap paper that was used. This copy lacks the 12-page list of advertisements at the rear. It has a one-page ad for The Contrast, a Novel, by E.S. Villa-Real Gooch. The American edition is much scarcer than the British first.

First edition of the author's curious travelogue, a nuanced epistolary series regarded by many as the first English-language account by a woman travelling on business. It was her most popular lifetime work; Swedish, Dutch, and Portuguese translations appeared in 1798, 1799, and 1806 respectively. Wollstonecraft, accompanied by her infant daughter and a maid, travelled to Scandinavia during the summer of 1795. She was tasked, as the agent for her partner Gilbert Imlay, with negotiating compensation for the loss of valuable cargo supposedly swindled from Imlay by a Norwegian ship captain. The resulting 25 letters combine autobiographical details with observations on sociology, national character, education, and the relationship between reason and imagination. They are "a fascinating mixture of autobiography and travel writing, often leaving readers with the impression that the places Wollstonecraft visits and the people she encounters are only secondary in importance to the traveller's own experiences, and that her journey is one of personal progress rather than one of geographical and social exploration" (Radu, p. 267). "When Johnson published the Letters they found an enthusiastic public, not least among young poets. The wording of Wollstonecraft's description of the waterfalls she visited at Frederikstad and Trollhätten appears to have played a part in inspiring Coleridge's description of the sacred river Xanadu; and the theme of the book - a solitary traveller wandering through wild, rugged and remote places, and suffering from the absence and indifference of a lover - helped to set a fashion for questing romantic journeys. Byron, Wordsworth, Shelley and Mary's as yet unborn daughter Mary, who sends her Frankenstein north at the end of his story, all read and followed in Mary Wollstonecraft's footsteps" (Tomalin, p. 228). ESTC T38577; Rothschild 2598; Windle A7a. Anca-Raluca Radu, "Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796)", in Barbara Schaff, ed., Handbook of British Travel Writing, 2020; Claire Tomalin, The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, 1992. Octavo (214 x 126 mm). Contemporary tree calf, rebacked to style, smooth spine divided into six compartments with decorative gilt bands, red morocco label, covers bordered in blind. Bound without the final publisher's advertisement leaf. Corners and covers worn in places, endpapers and first and last leaves browned from turn-ins and a little spotted, contents otherwise crisp and clean. A very good copy.

First Edition. 8vo, (v), 262, (4, Appendix and Notes), (2, Publisher's ad listing Wollstonecraft's other books); contemporary calf, printed green spine label. A bit of the upper edge of the title page is missing, where it appears that a signature has been clipped out; edges of front and rear blanks stained from the binding; last leaf corner turned down; covers rubbed and with a horizontal abrasion to the front, but sound and sturdy.