The History of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk Girl.
London: Henry Colburn, 1845. Hardcover. A fictionalized account of a servant girl transported to New South Wales in Australia for stealing a horse. That scene is the subject of the frontispiece of the 2nd volume, where Margaret is charmingly disguised as a boy. An interesting contemporary letter in a copy of the 1847 edition currently listed by a London bookseller says that Catchpole's family in Sydney burned every copy of the book they could find, and that her descendants number in the top ten in Sydney, including a judge in NSW named Innes.
8vo, 3 vols: xii, 316pp (&) (iv), 291pp (&) iv, 284pp, frontispiece & 6 aquatint plates, no ads at rear. Early half calf and pebbled cloth boards, all edges marbled, some mild water marks on plates, o/w a very nice copy. Ferguson 4009. The charming aquatint plates are from drawings by the author. Includes a manuscript note at the end correcting the printed statement that Catchpole died in 1841, saying she was still alive in 1844. OCLC: 154615245. Item #7783
Price: $1,250.00