[ First edition, inscribed by the author. ] Portraits of my Married Friends; or, A Peep into Hymen's Kingdom.

Author: 
'Uncle Ben' [ Mrs. Rhoda Elizabeth White (c.1820-1866, née Waterman [ Rhoda White ]]
Publication details: 
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 346 & 348 Broadway. London: 16 Little Britain. 1858.
£180.00
SKU: 17023

343pp., 8vo, with sixteen-page publishers' catalogue at rear. Frontispiece and six full-page illustrations (one for each story). In blue cloth, with decorations in gilt on boards, and gilt titles on spine, all edges gilt, and attractive patterned endpapers. In fair condition, on aged paper, rebacked. Inscription on reverse of frontispiece reads: 'To Mary Charnock, | from the Author, | Mrs Rhoda E. White, | with every kindest wish. | 17th December 1865.' Above this, presumably in the hand of the recipient, 'To Nettie | from her fondly attached | Mother -', and at foot, in a third hand, 'From my dear mother | Aug 21st. 1895'. 'The Feminist Companion to Literature in English', ed. Blain et al (1980), describes the book as containing 'a set of moral tales dealing with marital discord, mismatches, wife-abuse and tenement life.' Scarce, with almost all the copies listed on OCLC WorldCat microform copies, and no copies on COPAC.