MARGARET (WILSON OLIPHANT) OLIPHANT - AUTOGRAPH LETTER FRAGMENT SIGNED 2/15 - HFSID 73393

MARGARET (WILSON OLIPHANT) OLIPHANT
On the last page of a letter, the prolific novelist hopes she is "not too late" to meet with a good friend, signing with both her given and pen name!
Autograph Letter Fragment Signed: "M.O.W. Oliphant", 1 page, 3½x5¼ .No place, February 15, no year. Last page of a letter without previous pages. In full: "…or I should have sooner begged the pleasure of your company, but I can only hope now that I am not too late, but that we may hope to see you on Tuesday at seven o'clock. [she crosses out a name] Truly yours". Margaret Oliphant Wilson (1828-1897) published her first book Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland in 1849, followed by Caleb Field (1851) and Adam Graeme (1852). The success of these early novels caught the attention of William Blackwood of the famous Blackwood's Magazine, and he recruited her as a contributor.  From there, Oliphant would write over 100 articles for Blackwood's Magazine, as well as over 120 novels throughout her career, including He That Will Not When He May (1880), The Laird of Norlaw (1858) and The Chronicles of Carlingford.  Married to her cousin who worked in stained glass, Oliphant's family health was plagued with illness and misfortune, and the writer saw her husband and all 6 of her children die (3 of them during infancy).  When her last child, Francis, died in 1894, she lost her will for living, and declined into poor health, passing away in 1897.  Her last major article before her death, The Anti-Marriage League established a discussion on orthodoxy versus the new woman of the modern era, and her arguments would be the platform of debate for feminists emerging in the turn of the century. Normal mailing folds. Lightly toned. Light adhesive residue on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.