Martineau, Harriet. The Hamlets: A Tale. Boston: James Munroe & Co., 1844. [9618]
Black cloth, boards decorated in blind, spine in bright gilt, 6 1/4 x 4 inches, top of spine frayed, 1847 signature on tp. 181 pp., some foxing, tight. Good. Hardcover.
A tale of a fisherman's family who took in the orphaned children of a fisherman lost at sea, of paupers and day-workers, and a mill. The chapters are The Orphan's Welcome; Age without Honor; Queen Elizabeth's Hospitality; Important Trifles; Delights of Office; Holyday Schooling; Ease with Dignity; Labor with Dignity; Last Homes.
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876); Unitarian, prolific English author. Martineau wrote on everything from economics to slavery, and was a controversial figure. Her first published work was an article entitled On Female Education, in which she decried the disparity of sending boys off to school while girls had to remain at home in the drudgery of housework. She has been called the "mother of Sociology," and was one of the first women to contribute to the science.