[Autographs & Manuscripts] [Mott, Lucretia] Group of 5 Letters Relating to Women's Rights Activist and Abolitionist, Lucretia Mott

1. Mott, Lucretia
Autograph Letter, annotated
Dundee, Scotland, August 6, 1840. One sheet folded to make four pages; 10 x 8 in. (254 x 203 mm). Lengthy autograph letter to Lucretia Mott from English Unitarian Minister, George Harris, and annotated by her: "George Harris was a distinguished Unitarian Minister in Glasgow--Scotland..." Creasing from original folds; loss and separations at fore-edge of pp. 3/4, affecting some words of Harris' writing; tipped in to paper folder.

2. Combe, George
Autograph Letter, signed
Edinburgh, October 10, 1844. One sheet folded to make four pages; 8 7/8 x 7 5/16 in. (225 x 186 mm). Autograph letter to Mott from Scottish lawyer and founder of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, George Combe, offering his condolences on the death of her mother, and wishing her a speedy recovery concerning her poor health, later discussing at length Robert Chambers' speculative history Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (1844), and ending by mentioning his grief at the news of an incident regarding English feminist and social reformer, Josephine Butler. Creasing from original folds; in paper folder.

3. Stamm, August Theodore
Autograph Letter, signed
New York, August 23, 1855. One sheet folded to make four pages; 8 x 5 in. (203 x 127 mm). Autograph letter to Mott from physician August Theodore Stamm, informing her of his move from Boston to New York City, being incited by the words of American transcendentalist and abolitionist, Theodore Parker: "I saw much/of Theodore Parker and this induced me to leave Boston. I think there/is nowhere in the Union a more/upright learned and able defender of/truth and progress than he is..." while later relating his idea of making New York a center for the abolitionist movement: "Perhaps it may be possible to build/up a centrum for our movement on New York's barren/soils..." Creasing from original folds; mounted at bottom corners, in paper folder.

4. Combe, Cecilia
Autograph Letter, signed
Edinburgh, March 27, (18)56. One sheet folded to make four pages; 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 in. (184 x 114 mm). Autograph letter on mourning stationery to Mott from Cecilia Combe, wife of George Combe, relating to her about a surgical procedure performed on her husband, as well a matter relating to women's rights in Britian: "I hope you will be pleased at/the women's manifesto or petition/which is to be presented to Parliament/this session, and which has many/names of eminent women appended/to it--I appear as one of the humbler/members--not that I have ever/personally denied to amend the/laws of marriage relating to settlements/provisions or rights of women, so/much as from sympathy with those who may" (presumably in reference to the future Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 that expanded the rights of women to divorce). She goes on to reflect on their long friendship and the possibility of them meeting again. Creasing from original folds; old mounting residue on p. 4; in paper folder.

5. Mill, John Stuart
Autograph Letter, signed
Blackheath Park, Kent, August 12, 1867. One page folded to make four pages; 7 x 4 1/2 in. (178 x 114 mm). Autograph letter to Mott from English philosopher John Stuart Mill, introducing her to John Russell, Viscount Amberley, and his wife, Katharine Russell, Viscountess Amberley, "the worthiest and most devoted apostles of the emancipation and regeneration both of women and of the negroes...", hoping that they can meet her on their trip to the United States; with original mailing envelope. Creasing from original folds; mounted to paper folder.

From the estates of Charles M. and Mary Elizabeth Meredith III, Bucks County, PA.