Margaret Fuller

Margaret Fuller’s landmark text, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845), critically examined the role of women in society. It argued that marriage should be an equal partnership, insisting that women be given the same property rights as men. Fuller’s progressive ideas countered nineteenth-century common law, which allowed men to control married women’s legal status, earnings, and property. She acknowledged women’s great capabilities when she urged, “Let them be sea-captains if you will.” The first edition sold out in two weeks. Daguerreotypes of Fuller from an 1846 sitting, like the one pictured below, served as compositional bases for many subsequent prints, including the one on display here. In this vignette-style engraving, lace and ribbons adorn Fuller’s neck and wrists. She rests her head on her hand as she reads a book, hinting at her keen intellect. Often overlooked as an early feminist because of her emphasis on transcendental spiritualism, Fuller’s work nonetheless centers upon female autonomy and selfhood.