Monday, June 1, 2015

Aggravating Ladies

Ralph Thomas - Aggravating Ladies: Being a List of Works Published under the Pseudonym of "A Lady" (1880)

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First off, that's "aggravating" in the sense of collecting or compiling.  What the author did is make a list of books with the pseudonym "A Lady" (and did so under his own pseudonym "Olphar Hamst" from an obvious source) though it's not a pure list - much of the book is taken up with discussion of bibliographic matters.  The compilation covers a lot of religious material, some housekeeping guides and includes assorted poetry, memoirs, translations and study aids - most in clear gender roles of the period.  If nothing else it shows why Mary Ann Evans used a masculine pseudonym.

Some sample "A Lady" titles:

An Appeal to the Women of England to Discourage the Stage (1855)

Dates of the Kings of England, in Easy Triplets (1874)

Florence Nightingale and the Russian War, a Poem (1856)

The Orb of Light, or The Apocalyptic Vision (1860)

Twice Married, My Own Story (1855)