Richard Allestree’s works survive in large numbers and seem to have been exceptionally popular with female readers; I feel sometimes as if every other copy of an Allestree book I see has the early inscription of a female owner within. So it is with this copy of his 1678 The Lively Oracles Given to Us, or, The Christians Birth-right and Duty.
Mary Fulford has written her name along the top edge of the title page. Fulford was also the owner of Peppa, or, The Reward of Constant Love: A Novel (1689), written by a “young gentle-woman.” Her signature appears in the Beinecke Library’s copy of the novel, and EEBO proves that it is the same Mary Fulford! She may have owned the 1696 An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex, as well, likewise anonymously penned by “a lady.” Cambridge University Library’s bibliographic record tells us that their copy contains the ownership inscription of Mary Fulford and the armorial bookplate of Francis Fulford.
The Allestree was later owned by C.r Harris Esqr of Haine. His bookplate is affixed to the verso of the marbled front flyleaf.
Source: Book offered for sale by eBay seller georgekp57, 4/4/19. Images used with permission.
Early Modern Female Book Ownership 