Strictures on Modern System of Female Education, More 1802. This book is titled “Strictures On The Modern System Of Female Education. With A View Of The Principles And Conduct Prevalent Among Women Of Rank and Fortune”, by Hannah More. It is two volumes in one, and the Third American edition, with Considerable Additions; it was published and printed in Boston by Joseph Bumstead in 1802. The book has horizontal gilt bands and a red label with gilt lettering on the spine, brown boards, the bookplate of A. Ford on blank endpapers, it is inscribed “Alfred Ely 1803” at the top of the title page, with a five-page Introduction (iii - vii), the text runs from page 9 to page 310, and there are two pages of Contents at the rear, for a total of 312 pages in the book. Hannah More (1745 - 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet, and playwright in the circle of Samuel Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Born in Bristol, she became involved in the London literary elite and a leading Bluestocking member, a group of learned, educated women from the Blue Stocking Society in England. Her later plays and poetry became more evangelical, and she was part of a group opposing the slave trade. She was noted for her political conservatism, being described as an anti-feminist or a conservative feminist; she founded several schools where they taught the Bible and catechism on Sundays and during the week "such coarse works as may fit them for servants". In regards to her choice of subjects More declared "I allow of no writing for the poor" and that they were not to be made "scholars and philosophers”; she was an evangelical moralist who sort of left out poor people in her philosophy. The book is 8vo. and measures 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. wide and is pretty good condition for its age. The binding is tight and the pages have light toning and brown spots on them, with occasional offset, the endpapers have some brown spots and the rear paste-down looks like a paper label was removed and it has a chip on the bottom of the paper, the leaf after the Contents page has paper loss at the bottom, there are a few scrapes on the back board, and the spine has a mild split along the front edge, and still in pretty good condition for a book this old and with an important topic like education for women in the 1800’s, albeit it a little restrictive in its views by the author. The book runs anywhere from $40 for one in fair condition to $200 for a rebound copy that still has foxing and browning. #198 #1572