Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education. With the View of the Principles and the Conduct Prevalent Among Women of Rank and Fortune.

More, Hannah.

Published by London: Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1799.

About this Item

Hannah More was the most prolific and one of the most famous of the Bluestockings and the author of the poem ÒThe Bas Bleu,Ó (1782), in which she saluted LondonÕs female intelligentia. With her sister she ran a boarding school in Bristol. Under the patronage of David Garrick, she wrote a number of religious dramas, including The Inflexible Captive (1774) and Percy (1777), but after GarrickÕs death in 1779, her interest in the theatre waned, and she wrote a series of prose works relating to the obligations of Christianity, particularly among the moneyed classes. More believed that the education of the upper classes was crucial because of their influence on society. Written in the vivacious style that made her popular, the book emphasizes the acquisition of factual knowledge by young ladies, with warnings against the Òdangers arising from an excessive cultivationÓ of imagination and of the fine arts. The study of history, geography, and Òaccuracy in languageÓ is not only worth while in itself, but of religious and moral benefit, helping to protect young ladies from the Òdissipation an d the modern habits of fashionable life.Ó Two volumes, octavo. xix, [1, blank], 292; viii, [1, blank], 327, [1, publisherÕs ads] pp. Original paper spine over boards, uncut, spines numbered in black Binding extremities a bit rubbed, slight soiling to boards, spines slightly worn. Light foxing, very faint dampstaining to lower and outer margins of a handful of gatherings in Vol. I. and faint staining to pp. 233-240 in Vol. II, not affecting legibility. Contemporary circulating library label on upper front pastedown of Vol. I that reads Òsold by Thomas Dangerfield, No. 26 Berkeley Square, Bookseller and Stationer.Ó A very good copy. Third edition of MoreÕs important work on womenÕs education, one of her best known and most important, published the same year as the first. Strictures proved immensely successful; a second ÒcorrectedÓ edition was soon published and it had reached a seventh edition within the first year. There are currently no copies of the first edition in commerce. Seller Inventory # 16632

Bibliographic Details

Title: Strictures on the Modern System of Female ...

Publisher: London: Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1799.

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition