ALBUM OF LETTERS BY EMINENT WOMEN

including autograph letters signed by Joanna Baillie (2, to Leonard Horner, on an obscure word "Catchedicam", which proved to be the name of a hill, 1842), Anne Grant (to an friend, "I shew one of the symptoms of old age in my entire neglect of Grammar & connexion Having a full mind to pour forth regardless of order...", 2 pages, 4to, 19 October 1831), Maria Edgeworth (3, one with clipped signature), Maria Lady Calcott, Jane Marcet (3), Mary Somerville (5, including a long note on astronomical calculations and her publishing plans for a new book on "force and its action on inorganic & organic matter", 19 pages, 4 June 1830 to 6 October 1864), Lady Byron (4), Ada Lovelace (2, explaining the "difficulty & distress in the respiration" that makes her unable to make appointments, 4 pages, 8vo, n.d.), Anna Jameson (6), Amelia Opie, Florence Nightingale (3, including a long early letter with family news, 17 pages, 13 December 1840 to 6 May 1899), Octavia Hill (4), Harriet Martineau (5, discussing an ongoing work and on personal affairs including advice on ear-trumpets and her own ill-health "We find that dependence on opiates is a small evil compared with that of the wear & tear of suffering", 22 pages), Elizabeth Gaskell (to Mrs Horner, discussing her hopes that Charlotte Brontë would visit but that "Miss Martineau had had a letter from Miss Bronte saying that her father is very ill", and sending a novel, 4 pages, 8vo, n.d.), Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Howitt, Angela Burdett Coutts (2), Frances Cobb (3), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (accepting a subscription to a commemorative volume, 1 page), Elizabeth Eastlake (4), Marianne North (3), Fanny Kemble; the letters edge-mounted on the rectos with photographic or print portraits on the facing versos; 60 leaves, large quarto, half red morocco, upper cover labelled "J. Good & Eminent Women", inside cover labelled "Leonard Lyell"; housed in a waxed linen bag 

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This album includes a number of substantial letters by Suffragists and early feminists, as well as highlights such as the exceptionally rare letters by Ada Lovelace, and Mrs Gaskell writing on Charlotte Bronte.