The Female Quixote: 2 Volumes Complete, Mrs. Lennox — Cooke's Edition

The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella, by Mrs. Lennox — Cooke’s Edition

Publication: London, Printed for C. Cooke, [c. 1799]

Formatting: 12mo, 2 vols., pp. [iv], 244; [iv], 238.

Condition Report: Good. Both volumes present firmly in their period mottled calf bindings, with the joints tight and the hinges perfectly sound; a notable survival for domestic pocket editions of this era which were frequently read to pieces. The boards show expected, honest shelf-wear, including minor scuffing to the leather, rubbing to the extremities, and some gentle bumping to the corners. The gilt-ruled compartments on the spines remain relatively unoxidised, retaining a pleasing, muted lustre that nicely frames the original red and black morocco title and volume labels. Internally, the text block is securely sewn, though the leaves exhibit moderate foxing and standard age-toning throughout, largely concentrated around the preliminary pages and title leaves, without compromising the legibility of the text. An honest, robust set free of any major structural defects.

Catalogue Note: This charming late eighteenth-century printing is part of "Cooke’s Pocket Edition of Select British Novels," an ambitious and highly successful publishing venture by Charles Cooke that aimed to provide affordable yet elegantly bound literature to a wider reading public. Issued towards the very end of the 1700s, this secondary edition democratised access to Lennox’s important work, presenting it in an attractive, small-format binding suitable for domestic libraries.

The title page proudly advertises the work as being "Embellished with Superb Engravings." While Cooke's editions were mass-produced for the Georgian middle class, finding complete, matched sets in their original contemporary mottled calf, unfaded and structurally sound, has become increasingly uncommon on the open market.

Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote (1752) is a brilliant, satirical homage to Cervantes, following the misadventures of Arabella, a young noblewoman whose secluded upbringing and voracious reading of seventeenth-century French romances have entirely warped her sense of reality. Convinced that she is a heroine of epic proportions, Arabella expects highwaymen at every turn, assumes gardeners are disguised noblemen, and demands her suitors languish in silent, courtly adoration. Championed by literary giants like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding, Lennox’s masterful parody serves not only as a highly entertaining comedy of errors but also as a sharp, proto-feminist commentary on the societal limitations placed upon women's intellects and imaginations.