[The Englishwoman's Family Library] The Women 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 Wives of England; The Mothers of England. London: Fisher, Son & Co., [no date - no date] - 1843. 3 works only [of 4] in 3 volumes, small octavo (6 3/8 x 4in; 162 x 102 mm). Two engraved frontispieces. (Some spotting). Publisher’s red cloth, spines lettered and blocked in gilt, covers blocked in gilt and blind, pale yellow endpapers, gilt edges (occasional slight discoloration, and bubbling to te cloth but overall excellent). Provenance: Lucy M. Chamberlin (inscription in each volume: “ Lucy M. Chamberlin / Presented by her Father Jany. 1st 1849”)

An excellent part set of Ellis’s best-known and most successful series: although the identical presentation inscription in each volume suggest they were bought and given as a set, each of these volumes are stand-alone works. 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).

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

a)The Women of England. Their social duties, and domestic habits. London: Fisher, Son, & Co., [no date, but 1848 or earlier]. Engraved portrait frontispiece. First published 1839.

b) The Wives of England. Their relative duties, domestic influence, & social obligations ... Dedicated, by permission, to the Queen. London: Fisher, Son, & Co., [no date, but 1848 or earlier]. First published March 1843.

c) The Mothers of England. Their influence & responsibility. London: Peter Jackson, late Fisher, Son, & Co, 1843. Possible first edition?.

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]