WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary (1759-1797). Thoughts on the Education of Daughters with Reflections on Female Conduct, in the more important duties of life. London: J[oseph] Johnson, 1787.

The rare first edition of Wollstonecraft's radical and instructive treatise on female education. Anticipating several key ideas that she would later explore in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Thoughts comprises a series of essays highlighting the damaging effect of a typical eighteenth-century female education, and offers advice to mothers and teachers about an alternative method of raising daughters. Controversially, she recommends breast-feeding to establish strong maternal bonds, and promotes analytical thinking and the acquisition of marketable skills in order for women to become self-sufficient. ‘In Thoughts, Wollstonecraft spoke to the adult female from her own personal experiences. She recommended remaining single as a viable option, basing it on her own experiences as an independent woman’ (Manus, ‘Visions of Mary Wollstonecraft’).ESTC T50212; Gumuchian 5855; Rothschild 2595; Windle A1a.

Octavo (153 x 95mm). G6 a cancel as usual. Contemporary tree calf, spine gilt (joints and spine splitting, textblock splitting at G1-2, head and tailcaps rubbed with portion of headcap defective, extremities rubbed, small chip at lower cover); preserved in a modern cloth box.

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