1894 JEAN INGELOW. Beautiful Work on Stages of Womanhood by Friend of George MacDonald and Inkling Inspiration.

A superbly presented example of an early illustrated work by Jean Ingelow. A prominent Victorian poet, novelist, and children's author who achieved immense commercial success and critical renown following her 1863 Poems, she also earned praise from contemporaries like Tennyson and Ruskin.

Her work Songs of Seven, originally part of that 1863 collection and later published in standalone illustrated editions, is one of her most famous lyric works. It traces seven stages of a woman's life in seven-year increments, from childhood at age seven ("Seven Times One") to widowhood and maturity at age forty-nine, offering a poignant, highly popular exploration of Victorian domestic sentiment, female identity, and the passage of time. 

Beyond her poetry, Ingelow was a pivotal transitional figure in Victorian children's fantasy literature. She moved in the same literary and social circles as George MacDonald and Lewis Carroll, sharing a close personal friendship with MacDonald and his family. Her primary contribution to fantasy, Mopsa the Fairy (1869), drew direct inspiration from MacDonald's portal fantasies and Carroll's surrealist dreamscapes, blending moral depth with dreamlike logic. Through this lineage, Ingelow forms a direct link to the Inklings, particularly C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, who were deeply shaped by Victorian mythopoetic fantasy. Lewis frequently acknowledged MacDonald as his chief literary master, and Ingelow’s integration of fairy-tale secondary worlds helped forge the genre foundation that the Inklings later developed in the 20th century.

Ingelow, Jean. Collection of "Masterpieces." Songs of Seven. With Numerous Original Illustrations by Kirk Este. New York. Frederick A. Stokes Company. 1894. 115pp.

Very good in a sleek half polished calf binding, marbled boards, and in a very good state of preservation with only very minor fading on spine.