Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Moral and Political Subjects.

Philadelphia: Printed & sold by William Gibbons, No. 144 North Third Street, 1792.

First American edition, published the same year as the first London edition, and preceding the 1792 Boston imprint, 12mo, ex library with embossed stamp to title, bookplate and tape on verso of title, stamped number at the foot of the leaf following the title and page 99, contents evenly toned, in a buckram binding, but not resewn, a good candidate for restoration, inscribed by Catherine Hannah Holden in two places in 1815, 6 1/2 x 4 in.

Following arguments similar to those of Judith Sargent Murray, Wollstonecraft in this pioneering work puts society's common conception of the status and capacity of women under examination. This early contribution to the case for women's humanity was accomplished in a very short life. Wollstonecraft died eleven days after giving birth to her daughter Mary, who went on to write Frankenstein.

Evans 25053; ESTC W28531; rare at auction.