1875 Rare Book - The Peasant and the Prince by British social theorist and writer Harriet Martineau.
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(Description)
Author: Harriet Martineau.
Title: The Peasant and the Prince.
Publisher: London, George Routledge and Sons, no date (circa 1875).
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6.5 " X 4.5 ".
Pages: 191 pages + (31) publisher's catalog.
Binding: Attractive and very good original full-cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean, name of a previous 1878 owner on the first endpaper - as shown, rare light foxing - as shown, upper corner of the frontispiece illustration margin cut - as shown)
Illustrations: Complete with the nice color frontispiece illustration.
The book: Rare and Nice edition of this book by Harriet Martineau, often cited as the first female sociologist. The story tells the tale of a prince who disguises himself as a peasant to experience the lives of his subjects. During his travels, he meets a poor peasant family struggling to make ends meet. The prince, disguised as a peasant, offers to help the family with their farming and agricultural practices. Through his hard work and knowledge, he helps the family prosper, and they eventually realize that he is not an ordinary peasant but the prince himself.
The story is a moral fable that emphasizes the importance of hard work, diligence, and knowledge in the pursuit of success. It also highlights the virtues of humility, kindness, and empathy towards others, regardless of their social status.
The author: Harriet Martineau (12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was a British social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist.
Martineau wrote many books and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic, and perhaps most controversially, feminine perspective; she also translated various works from Auguste Comte. She earned enough to be supported entirely by her writing, a rare feat for a woman in the Victorian era.
A young Princess Victoria enjoyed reading Martineau's publications. The queen invited Martineau to her coronation in 1838—an event which Martineau described, in great and amusing detail, to her many readers. Martineau said of her own approach to writing: "when one studies a society, one must focus on all its aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions". She believed a thorough societal analysis was necessary to understand women's status under men.