ROBINSON, Mary. Memoirs of Mary Robinson ["Perdita"]. With Introduction and Notes by J. Fitzgerald Molloy. London & Philadelphia: Gibbings and Company, Ld. & J. B. Lippincott Co., 1895.

1 vol., 8vo, (10 1/2" x 6 3/4"), pp. [3], xv, 251, [1]. Publisher's original white cloth boards with pale blue linen central panels, decorated with dark blue floral decals and gilt lettering to the upper board and spine. Photogravure frontispiece with tissue guard and several additional plates throughout. Very good condition. The covers show light shelf wear and minor soiling consistent with white cloth of this period. The headcap and tailcap are slightly worn. This copy bears the ownership stamps of "John C. Gillies" and a small adhesive sticker on the front cover. Internally, the text block is clean and bright, and the deckled (untrimmed) edges remain crisp and free of significant foxing.

This 1895 edition revived the memoirs of Mary "Perdita" Robinson for a Victorian audience captivated by the romance and drama of the Regency era. Mary Robinson was one of the most famous women of the late 18th century; an accomplished actress and a prolific poet of the Della Cruscan school, her life took a permanent turn toward notoriety when she caught the eye of the young Prince of Wales (later George IV). Their high-profile affair, and her subsequent abandonment by him, left her a figure of both pity and public fascination. Her memoirs are notable for her self-fashioning as a woman of "sensibility" caught in the treacherous machinery of high society. Edited by the popular historian J. Fitzgerald Molloy, this edition provides essential context to Robinson's narrative, including her career at Drury Lane under David Garrick. While the external ownership markings are a detraction, the cleanliness of the plates and the decorative binding make this a charming example of 19th-century book design.