Elements of the Philosophy of Mind
Ricord, Mrs. Elizabeth. Elements of the Philosophy of Mind applied to the development of thought and feeling. Geneva and New York: John N. Bogert and Collins, Reese and Co., 1840.
8vo.; errata slip tipped-in at the rear; lightly foxed; endpapers darkened; library bookplate on front pastedown; calf; contemporary morocco spine label; lightly rubbed; a remarkably pretty copy.
First edition of these lectures on the mind, soul, and morals, delivered by Ricord, the principal of the Geneva Female Seminary, to her students over the preceding fourteen years. R&B 40-5764. The preface is dated December 14, 1839; Imprints records one copy for 1839, probably mistakenly. Generally regarded as the first work of philosophy by an American woman, it is also “[t]he first comprehensive textbook of psychology by a woman” (“Mrs. Ricord and Psychology for Women, Circa 1840,” by Elizabeth Scarborough, American Psychologist, February 1992, 274-80). A lovely survival of a book almost always encountered in cloth.
Ricord opened the Geneva Female Seminary in 1829, doubtless modeled after Emma Willard’s academy in Troy. The school did not include domestic subjects and did not require extensive memorization of material, but developed the ability of girls to think so they might themselves become teachers and competent mothers. Elements is clearly directed at young women, acknowledging that much in their upbringing hinders their mental development, but never suggests that women are not as capable of mental work as men. The writer to whom Ricord’s work is most indebted is Victor Cousin; the only American author she cites is Thomas Upham. In 1842 Ricord published Zambla, or The Insurrection. A dramatic poem in five acts.
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