MARGARET (WILSON OLIPHANT) OLIPHANT - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 73148

MARGARET (WILSON OLIPHANT) OLIPHANT
The writer of over 120 novels responds to an afternoon invitation
Autograph Letter Signed: "Mrs. Oliphant", 1 page, 3½x5½ affixed to 6½x8½ captioned card. No place, no date. To "Mr. Harding", in full: "Pardon me for not replying sooner to your kind invitation for Wednesday afternoon. I will give in and flowers [illegible] to you for a novel time. I hope I can bring Miss Fullord with me? Bless you. 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. Otherwise, fine condition.