The RHUL Archive and Special Collections is the home to a collection of interesting and rare books which were originally acquired in the development of the early libraries of both Bedford College and Royal Holloway College. One of these special texts was recently sent on loan to Chawton House to feature in the exciting new exhibition Mary Robinson – Actress, Mistress, Writer, Radical (2nd September 2024 to 21st April 2025) which is dedicated to the scandalous life and literary genius of Mary Robinson (1756/8 – 1800).
Robinson’s A letter to the Women of England on the Injustice of Mental Subordination: with Anecdotes, 1799 (ref 301.412 ROB) tells the story of Mary Robinson as an advocate for women’s rights, and a champion of women’s writing and will be displayed alongside Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).
Chawton House is a Grade II-listed Jacobean manor house in the village of Chawton, adjacent to Alton, Hampshire that once belonged to Jane Austen's brother, Edward. Chawton House is now a centre for early women’s writing with a collection of over 4,500 rare books and manuscripts written by women from 1660 – 1860. Since 2015 it has been open to the public as an historic house, telling the story of the Austen and Knight families and pioneering women writers.
Images: (l) Exterior of Chawton House, Chawton, Hampshire (2024); (r) Nook at Chawton House said to be a favourite reading corner of Jane Austin.
A star of the London stage, Mary Robinson became notorious as a Royal mistress, when she caught the eye of the Prince of Wales as Perdita in The Winter’s Tale. Long defined by her romantic liaisons, in recent decades she has been reclaimed as one of the most important writers of the late 18th century. This exhibition will break new ground, as the most comprehensive display of Mary Robinson's biography and literary works to date displaying rare and early editions of Robinson’s writing – from the debut novel that sold out by lunchtime to her impassioned argument for women’s education and rights. The exhibition also offers a once in a lifetime chance to see Robinson’s manuscript of the Memoirs she prepared for publication shortly before she died, on loan from the Chequers Trust and shown publicly for the first time.
Image: Mrs Mary Robinson as 'Perdita' by John Hoppner (1758-1810), on display at Chawton House.
A Letter to the Women of England is a key item within the exhibition as it is the only political treatise that Robinson wrote, published one year before her death. She argues for women’s rights and rails against their treatment by men. Today, it is an exceptionally rare publication, with only one other copy held by a collection in the UK (The British Library). The first edition is particularly important because Robinson chooses to publish under the pseudonym of Anne Frances Randall, only revealing her identity in the second edition. The inside cover is labelled ‘Presented by G.J. Pilcher Esq to Bedford College in Nov. 1920’. It is bound with two other publications - Norton, Mrs, A letter to the Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth’s Marriage and Divorce Bill (1857) and Arnold, Arthur, The Hon. Mrs. Norton and Married Women. It is particularly interesting that Robinson’s work was presented to the library of Bedford College. The work of Bedford College and Royal Holloway College in establishing higher education opportunities specifically for women aligns with the thinking of Mary Robinson and similar in challenging the inferior treatment of women in comparison to men.
Images: (l) Exterior of cover of Mary Robinson's A Letter to the Women of England; (r) "Had fortune enabled me, I would build an University for Women; where they should be politely, and the same time classically educated", on page 2 of Mary Robinson's A Letter to the Women of England.
Mary Robinson: Actress, Mistress, Writer, Radical is open from 2 September 2024 and runs until 21 April 2025.
