ELIZA LYNN LINTON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 6/13 - HFSID 73485

ELIZA LYNN LINTON
The Victorian-era novelist and journalist, known for her anti-feminist opinions, is sorry to hear of friends "pain of heart and trouble of mind", signs name in black ink
Autograph letter signed: "E. Lynn Linton" in black ink. 3 pages integral leaf, 3½x5½ folded. Queen Anne's Mansions, St. James Park, London. June 13, no year. In part: "My dear Sir, What can I do? On Tuesday I am engaged to go up to Hamstead & on Wed. to the botanic show the week after next. Perhaps we can make some arrangement to meet & look over your pet place - I am sorry to see by your letter that you are in pain of heart & trouble of mind - I do not known the cause of your sorrow but in any case I am sorry for you! Leave London at the end of the month October the 24th & 28th inclusive". Eliza Lynn Linton (1822-1898) was a British novelist, essayist, and most memorably an anti-feminist journalist. Born into a family of clergymen, Linton's career began in London in 1845 as the protégé of poet Walter Savage Landor; the following year she released her first novels Azeth, The Egyptian (1847), Amymone (1848), and Realities (1851), none of which had much success. In 1848, Linton became the first female to ever be hired as a salaried journalist when hired to join the staff of the Morning Chronicle and later Household Words. She went on to write more than twenty novels including The True History of Joshua Davidson (1872), Patricia Kemball (1874) and Christopher Kirkland (1885). However, Linton is perhaps best known for her severe anti-feminist criticism, particularly in her essay "The Girl of the Period", a vehement attack on "The New Women" as the educated, professionally-aspiring feminist of the mid-Victorian period was known, which was published by the Saturday Review in 1868, as well as her essay "Wild Women as Politicians" (1891) claiming that politics was naturally the sphere of men, as was fame of any sort; she claimed "Amongst our most renowned women are some who say with their whole heart, 'I would rather have been the wife of a great man, or the mother of a hero, than what I am, famous in my own person'". Normal mailing folds. Toned. Few ink stains throughout. Slightly worn and soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.