Richard Allestree is a perennial favorite among early modern readers, and we have repeatedly featured books by him on this website. Among those books, The Ladies Calling seems to have been especially popular. This is the third time the book has come up on the blog, and there are certain to be more.
The book, with its impressive frontispiece, was recently sold along with the companion volume The Gentleman’s Calling, which features, as the bookseller notes, contains an owner’s inscriptions by William Moore, written when he was attending the university.
The Ladies Calling, in its fourth edition, was bound very carefully, with floral devices and, originally, gilt edges, showing a degree of investment in the book, which may be have been a gift.
The female ownership inscription reads “Ann Ambrose her book 1720.”
Source: Book offered for sale by Page One, Too on 6/10/19. Images used with permission.
Early Modern Female Book Ownership 