Title page of the 1809 first edition of An Essay on Government by Mrs R.F.A.Lee. Printed for the author in London by T. Gillet, Crown Court and sold by John Joseph Stockdale of 41 Pall Mall.

An Essay on Government by #TheFemaleInfidel Rachael Fanny Antonina Dashwood. Sold by #JohnJosephStockdale Possibly one of the copies she sent to #ThomasJefferson. Rebound by the lovely #MattEdwardsBookbinding of #DerbyMuseums.

Engraving of a bust of a young woman in Regency style classical garb.

Rachael Fanny Antonina Dashwood, later Mrs Lee, illegitimate daughter of Sir Francis Dashwood & Fanny Barry. Victim of a notorious #abduction & rape whose perpetrators got off on a technicality. A woman out of her time #thefemaleinfidel remembered for all the wrong reasons.