ROBINSON, Mary.

£2,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Lyrical Tales. First edition of the final book by the actress turned author and political radical, published eight days before her death. Robinson was one of the most famous writers of her day, known for works that were often erotically and politically charged. Topics covered in Lyrical Tales include racial equality, the sexual persecution of enslaved women, incest, and murder. Robinson (1756-1800) initially became known to London society as a Shakespearean actress. She received attention from the press both for her acting and for her unconventional sexual behaviour, especially when she became the mistress of the Prince of Wales in 1779. After ill-health forced her to retire from her stage career in 1783, she began to write for an income, having previously published poetry. Her output included journalism, poetry, novels, and political prose, and she often examined the plight of the poor, the enslaved, and women. Notoriety helped Robinson's work to sell, but it was also reviewed well and admired by friends and contemporaries, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jane Porter, Charlotte Dacre, and William Godwin. Robinson was already gravely unwell when she commenced writing Lyrical Tales, but both her debts and an active mind made her determined to continue work. Several poems in the volume are "metrically unusual and inventive" (Orlando); Robinson was influenced by the innovative new works she encountered in her role as poetry editor for the Morning Post, especially those by Wor

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