Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, America's First Feminist, First Edition 1852

Margaret Fuller

First Edition

[Feminism][Literature][Women's History][Philosophy] Fuller Ossoli, Margaret et al. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, 1852, constitutes a central textual artifact in nineteenth-century feminist and transcendentalist history, assembling Fuller’s autobiographical writings with editorial commentary by Emerson, Clarke, and Channing. Issued shortly after her death, the biography shaped public understanding of Fuller as reformer, journalist, and advocate for women’s rights while simultaneously moderating elements of her voice to align with Victorian sensibilities. The work provides direct evidence of how male intellectual contemporaries curated the legacy of a woman whose intellectual authority challenged prevailing gender norms.

Fuller Ossoli, Margaret et al. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1852. First edition. Two volumes. Original publisher’s brown cloth binding with blind-embossed arabesque designs and gilt spines. Includes Fuller’s autobiographical fragment, extensive personal recollections, and selections from correspondence. The editorial framing both honors and reshapes Fuller’s public image, revealing the cultural negotiation of female intellectual leadership. Fraying and minor loss to spine ends; light shelfwear and rubbing to boards; moderate foxing to endpapers; text block clean and sound; gilt legible. Overall good to very good condition. A significant first edition illustrating both Fuller’s influence and the nineteenth-century struggle to narrate female genius.

Item #22096

Price: $1,800.00