Outsider's Autobiographical Novel. 'Sketched from Life'
M. Moore-Bentley (Mary Ling 1865-1953), self published, Sydney 1903. 216pp. plus 24 line drawings.
Ling was a writer and briefly a NSW Senator.
Novelised polemic and autobiography from…'a compulsive writer of poems, short stories, fact and fiction, using all her resources to buy pen and paper. A novel she had written was rejected by London publishers about 1890. A Woman of Mars; or, Australia's Enfranchised Woman by 'Mary Ann Moore-Bentley' was published in Sydney in 1901. A committed follower of Henry George, she joined the Sydney Single Tax League, formed that year, addressed its Georgian evening in December 1902 and promoted his views in her Sketched from Life (self-published 1903). One of eight women appointed to the league's executive council, ……she believed…'The only tax should be that on land values. She supported free trade, advocated the abolition of State parliaments and proposed the establishment of a state bank. Her books were sold at her meetings to defray expenses. In Sydney she spoke on street corners, on hotel balconies and in the Domain.' [ADB]
Older rebinding in gilt titled brown cloth boards which are in reasonable condition. Title page foxed and very occasional light foxing throughout. Overall good for age. Uncommon. (19x13cm)


Estimate $60-80