Italy.- Melena (Elpis) Calabria and the Liparian Islands in the Year 1860, first edition in English, presentation inscription to title "L.Blondel de la part de l'Auteur", blind-stamp of Giannalisa Feltrinelli to title, 4 ff. advertisements at end, ink inscription to front free endpapers, some light browning and spotting, gutter cracking at points with some gatherings starting to work loose, original cloth, gilt, spine ends repaired, 8vo, Saunders, Otley & Co., 1862.
⁂ Elpis Melena, the pseudonym of Marie Espérance von Schwartz, is best known for her involvement in the Italian Unification movement and for editing the first German edition of Giuseppe Garibaldi’s memoirs, which were later published in English in 1887. She was also an advocate for animal welfare and a vocal critic of vivisection. In 1875, after reading a German translation of George Fleming’s essay on the subject, she was inspired to write her anti-vivisection novel Gemma, oder Tugend und Laster (Gemma, or Virtue and Vice).
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