[The Englishwoman's Family Library] The Women of England; The Daughters of England; The Wives of England; The Mothers of England.

Sarah Stickney Ellis "must stand alongside Dickens as one of the deep designers of the mid-century family imagination” (Karen Chase and Michael Levenson. The Spectacle of Intimacy: A Public Life for the Victorian Family. [Princeton: 2009], p.66) 

Sarah Stickney ELLIS (1799-1872).

[The Englishwoman's Family Library] The Women of England; The Daughters of England; The Wives of England; The Mothers of England. London: Fisher, Son & Co. or Peter Jackson, [no dates]. 4 works in 4 volumes, small octavo (6 3/4 x 4 1/4in; 172 x 108mm). Engraved frontispieces. (Some spotting). Publisher’s red cloth, spines lettered in gilt and blocked in blind, covers blocked in blind, pale yellow endpapers (some bumping to extremities, some light soiling). Housed in the publisher's dark red thin-leather-covered rectangular wooden case (9 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 5 3/4in; 241 x 140 x 146mm), with a shaped ‘roof’ fronted by a stylized pediment, with a glass-fronted door, hinged to the left, push-button metal catch closing along right-hand side, pediment face lettered "The Englishwoman's Family Library", the front face of the door and the pediment also decorated in gilt, the interior of case lined with matching pale yellow paper, later removable paper and cloth-covered ‘dais’ to interior (some wear to leather [see images]).

An assembled set of Ellis’s best-known and most successful series: uniformly bound and presented in the publisher’s presentation case. The “main goal in Ellis‘s writings is to give women more independence, more control, and more agency in a society where women were expected to be submissive and dependent” (Ashley Lynn Carlson).

Sets like this, with the presentation case are very rare: this is currently one other for sale (Peter Harrington at £ 6500.00).

The spectacular presentation case is advertised in the 10-page publisher's catalogue for 1843 bound in at the rear of The Mothers of England [see lot  133, in the present sale], in which Fisher, Son & Co. offer a "Unique and Elegant Present. The Englishwoman's Family Library. Bound uniformly, and enclosed in a Morocco Case, with Glass Front and Lettered. Cloth, neat, 1l. 19s. - Cloth, elegant, gilt edges, 2l. 7s. – Morocco elegant Il 3s. – Morocco case, 10s. extra; and may be had separately".

In order of date of first publication, the four works present here are:

a) The Women of England. Their social duties, and domestic habits. London: Fisher, Son, & Co., [no date]. Engraved portrait frontispiece. Provenance: Anna Maria. Kirwan House, Well Park, Drumcondra, Dublin. First published 1839.

b) The Daughters of England. Their position in society, character & responsibilities. London: Peter Jackson, [no date]. Provenance: Josephine Sparre (inscription dated 1856) – possibly, Josephine Sophie Anette Charlotte Sparre af Söfdeberg (1829-1892, lady-in-waiting, and a mistress to King Charles XV of Sweden): an ironic twist given the subject of the book. First edition published 10 January 1842.

c) The Wives of England. Their relative duties, domestic influence, & social obligations ... Dedicated, by permission, to the Queen. London: Fisher, Son, & Co., [no date]. (Lacks front free endpaper). First published March 1843.

d) The Mothers of England. Their influence & responsibility. London: Peter Jackson, late Fisher, Son, & Co, [no date]. (Small split to the lower joint). First published later in 1843.

The “main goal in Ellis‘s writings is to give women more independence, more control, and more agency in a society where women were expected to be submissive and dependent. … Ellis argues for a broad education that will serve a woman regardless of her station. She wants her readers to be capable not only of taking care of a husband and house, but also the accounts and most importantly, herself. … Ellis‘s views on engagement and marriage, … are, to say the very least, disenchanted. Ellis makes an effective argument against most types of marriages and leaves her reader with the impression that remaining single is frequently the best option for a woman. Ellis only approves of marriages where the woman is absolutely certain before her wedding that her husband will treat her as an equal. Given her hesitancy about advocating marriage, it is no wonder that Ellis makes such a big deal about the need to educate women so that they can be independent.” [Ashley Lynn Carlson. "Influence, Agency, and the Women of England: Victorian Ideology and the Works of Sarah Stickney Ellis." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/10 , pp.161-162]