A cheeky acknowledgement that women can and do break rules; the trick is knowing which are appropriate to bend, and which could lead to real danger
[Gender & Etiquette] [Intergenerational Guidance] [Feminist Literature] Green, Sarah
Mental Improvement for a Young Lady, on her Entrance into the World; Addressed to a Favourite Niece.
London: Minerva Press..and Sold by Mrs. Harlow, 1793. First Edition. Nineteenth century half calf over marbled boards with gilt and morocco to spine. All edges speckled red. Measuring 155 x 96mm and bound without half title else complete (NB: while the second edition would be issued with a frontis, the first was not): xx, 132. Light rubbing to corners and spine ends, but a tight, square binding. Early gift inscription revealing the book as an intergenerational gift between women: "1837. To Dear Mary Newport, the Gift of her Godmama." A few minor spots throughout; overall surprisingly fresh and bright internally. A scarce example of this early Minerva Press title, which challenges the publisher's reputation for sensational fiction, ESTC reports only three copies (all UK); OCLC adds an additional 3 in the US. No copy of any edition appears in the modern auction record, and the present is the only example in trade.
In 1790, William Lane, printer and publisher, began to print works under the imprint "Minerva Press, a somewhat ironic name, since Minerva was the Greek goddess of wisdom, and the Minerva Press was routinely decried by literary critics for the lowbrow literature it published...Between 1790 and 1820, Minerva was by far the largest publisher of fiction, publishing mostly Gothic fiction, but also other types of sensational novels, some nonfiction, and reissues of classic 18th century literature" (Valancourt). This history and reputation can assist our approach to a text like Sarah Green's Mental Improvement for a Young Lady, which is anything but the serious, straightforward etiquette guide it purports to be.
Addressed to "my Dear Charlotte," Green's book invites readers into an intimiate conversation between women of two generations: a young niece entering adulthood, and her paternal aunt whose realistic view of the world might sit between the parental extremes of "a mother who makes her duty her delight" and a father who "sees, with an eye of pity, the failings of all." We get the sense immediately that there is a trust between the listener and the speaker, and an ability to balance seriousness with irony and humor.
Green's advice unfolds across a series of eight thematically titled letters, with topics ranging from Good Temper, to Chastity, to Conduct and Conversation, to Employment of Time, to Amusement. Across each (excepting the final letter, Religion, which carries the most gravitas among them), Green balances the guidance of typical etiquette books with the cheeky acknowledgement that women can and do break rules; the trick is knowing which are appropriate to bend in public or private, and which could lead to real danger. To that end, Good Temper, for example, admits that while the social expectation is that "a female...ought to be all gentleness and sweetness," it is an unrealistic standard. Acknowledging that Charlotte can and will face situations that cause anger, Green suggests that this is not a failing. All women experience it. Rather, it is the job of womanhood to find ways of soothing these feelings and controling external behavior to fit the situation. "Govern well your temper from all the stormy passions," because they can kill a reputation as well as one's ability to feel joy. Chastity is similarly to be protected because it carries social and economic capital, and its loss "is generally despised by everybody" on a marriage market. Fun, conversation, and laughter are key parts of what Green recommends. And while she advises against many novels as "pernicious reading...infusing a kind of false heroic sentiment," she does urge Charlotte and other girls to read Fanny Burney -- likely because they turn tropes of sensational romance on their head and reveal some of the dangers young women may face in society.
A concise but complex advice book allowing us to glimpse into the advice women might get from their more honest elders, the present copy contains a gift inscription that suggests it was also given and used that way by real world readers.
ESTC T 94348. Grub Street Project 92866 (Printer) and 313942 (Title). (226)