Thomas Stothard RA, British 1755-1834- An illustration for 'Betsy Thoughtless'; pencil and grey wash on paper, 11.5 x 7 cm. Provenance: With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London [No. 32923].; Private Collection, UK. Literature: S. M. Bennett, 'Thomas...

Thomas Stothard RA, British 1755-1834- An illustration for 'Betsy Thoughtless'; pencil and grey wash on paper, 11.5 x 7 cm. Provenance: With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London [No. 32923].; Private Collection, UK. Literature: S. M. Bennett, 'Thomas Stothard, The Mechanisms of Art Patronage in England circa 1800', University of Missouri Press, Columbia, 1988, Appendix 2, 'Checklist of books illustrated by Stothard', p.65. Note: 'The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless' by Eliza Fowler Haywood, 1751, illustrated by Thomas Stothard, printed in London for Harrison & Co., 1783; Series for 'The Novelist's Magazine' (London, 1780); Vol. 8; details 312 pages, 8 leaves of plates. The novel is a sophisticated and multi-plot story which is often considered the first in English to explore the nature of female development. Betsy leaves her emotionally and financially abusive husband Munden and experiences independence for a time before she decides to marry again. Written a few years before her marriage-conduct books were published, the novel contains advice in the form of quips from Lady Trusty. The story marks a change in 18th-century fiction. It portrays a mistaken, but intelligent and strong-willed woman, who gives way to society's pressures to marry. As a novel of marriage, rather than the more popular subject of courtship, it foreshadows a type of domestic novel that will culminate in the 19th century, such as in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.