|
Home
>
Worthopedia – Price Guide
>
Books, Paper & Magazines >
1696 Rare APHRA BEHN ~ 1st Ed. ~ Novels History No Res
|
Terms and Conditions for using our site |
1696 Rare APHRA BEHN ~ 1st Ed. ~ Novels History No Res
Sold For:
 or Sign In to see What it's worth.
T H E H I S T O R I E S A N D N O V E L S Of the Late Ingenious M rs Behn: In One VOLUME. V I Z Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave.
The Fair Jilt, or Prince Tarquin. Agnes de Caftro, or the Force of Generous Love. Lover's Watch, or the Art of Love. The Ladies Looking-Glafs. The Lucky Miftake, and Love-Letters: Never before Printed. __________________________ Together with The LIFE and MEMOIRS of Mrs. Behn. Written by One of the Fair Sex. __________________________ L O N D O N, Printed for S. Briscoe, the Corner-Fhop of Charles- street, in Ruffel-Street, Covent- Garden , 1696. ~ THE FIRST EDITION ~ Nineteenth century half calf, rubbed but quite sound, title page frayed with loss of the 'H' in title, neatly finished in manuscript, text age browned throughout. An octavo volume, it measures approximately 17cm (6¾") x 10.5cm (4½") x 3cm (1¼"). Pagiantion pp. [30], 80, (81-82), 81-101, [9], 34, 145-178 [i.e. 180], [6], 38, 23-38, 225-403, [1], 401-416, Text collated and complete despite mispaginations, however please note lacks the frontispiece. APHRA BEHN (1640-1689), English novelist, dramatist and poet, is regarded as the first professional woman writer in English. Her personal history is "unusually interesting but very difficult to unravel and relate." Information, especially regarding her early life is, at best sketchy, perhaps not helped because she is thought to have either embroidered, or even invented certain events. She was born in Kent and - although called into question by some - visited Surinam, then a British colony, in 1663 with members of her family. During this trip she met an African slave leader, whose story formed the basis for one of her most famous works, Oroonoko . She returned to England in 1658, and is thought to have married a Dutch merchant by the name of Behn, but he died after only two or three years. Her marriage, however, remains obscure, and t is no mention of her husband or his death in her writings. Causing some to assert that he was simply invented by Behn, as the status of widow would be more conducive to her career. It is known with certainty that during the Dutch war she was employed (though never paid) by Charles II as a spy in Antwer. Her code name for her exploits is said to have been Astrea, a name under which she subsequently published much of her writings. Receiving little or no pay for her services to the crown, after returning to England, despite petitioning the king for monies owing, she ended up in a debtor's prison. By 1669 an undisclosed source had paid Behn's debts, and she was released from prison, starting from this point to become one of the first women who wrote for a living. Behn led a life, as she says, "dedicated to pleasure and poetry", and achieved fame and notoriety in her own lifetime. She has always been an enigma. "For her contemporaries, she was a threatening figure who undermined certain assumptions about the masculine realms of letters, drama, politics, intrigue. And "she offered disingenuous reassurance that hers was only a 'feminine pen'." On Behn's career, Virginal Woolf is often quoted, "All women together, ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn, which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds." With her status as icon is probably now assured, her writing too is now given the status it deserves. And it is for her pioneering work in prose narrative that she achieved her place in literary history. Her most famous work is Oroonoko, or the History of the Royal Slave , based on her visit to Surinam. It is "perhaps the earliest English philosophical novel, it deplores the slave trade and Christian hypocrisy". But it is yet more than that, as one recent commentator states "the narrative of Oroonoko cannot be romanticized into a purely emmancipatory text, not merely in relation to colonialism, but also in relation to Behn as a woman writer." And again "this whole question of power and representation is evident in the... 
Items in the Worthopedia are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.
View Similar ItemsMore Items from eBay
|
||||||||||||||||
Joining is free and gives you access to our Community & Forums.
If you are interested in our pricing data or other paid memberships, try our Full 7-day Free Trial Here.
By creating an account you agree to our Terms & Conditions
