Anonymous.
The History of Miss Indiana Danby.
Dublin: Printed for J. Hoey senior, P. Wilson, J. Exshaw, S. Cotter, E. Watts, H. Saunders, J. Hoey junior, J. Potts, S. Watson, R. Bell, & J. Williams, 1766-1767.
Four 12mo volumes bound in two, second Dublin edition, apparently not in ESTC, which records a Dublin imprint with an identical list of printers dated 1765, and a 1767 London edition, but nothing answering to the description of the present copy; old ownership signatures aggressively trimmed from the top portion of the title pages of the first and third volume, and to the first page of text with loss to the top six or so lines on the verso of the first leaf of the first volume [B1], similar damage to the first leaf of the third volume [A3]; bound in uniform contemporary full calf, stiffly rebacked, with new labels, a few tears to text leaves repaired with tape, 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.
Set out in epistolary format, this anonymous novel, attributed to "A Lady" according to the London edition, was produced to appeal to women with entertainment deemed appropriate for their expected interests and tastes. Although somewhat formulaic in its plot and novelistic devices, similar stories published in this period nonetheless informed heavily the work of young and emerging female authors. Published ten years before Jane Austen's birth, Miss Indiana Danby's adventures can be read as a set of steps from the ground floor of women's writing leading hopefully up into higher and more sophisticated levels of storytelling.
The 1765 Dublin edition in ESTC [N32713] lists one holding worldwide, at Harvard; this edition not in ESTC; rare at auction.
