The Countess of Montgomery's Urania

This article is known to be incomplete.

The Countess of Montgomery's Urania (also The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania), published in 1621, is a prose romance written by Lady Mary Wroth (c. 1587–1651/3). The romance's most notable storyline centers upon the romance between the faithful Pamphilia and the roving Amphilanthus; it also follows a myriad of other noble and non-noble characters across a fictional Europe. As the earliest prose romance written by a woman in English, the novel's publication challenged established 17th-century aristocratic conceptions of female virtue, which was considered compromised if a woman's work appeared in print.

Publication

Urania was entered into the Stationers' Register on July 13, 1621 by John Marriott and John Grismand. The work may have been sold at Grismand's shop in Paul's Cross Churchyard, under the sign of the Gun, which was used by Grismand from 1618 to 1626. It was printed by Augustine Matthews, whose work has been identified through his typeface and use of printer's ornaments, which Matthews borrowed from fellow printer Felix Kingston. Parts of the book also may have been printed by Matthews' partner John White.

Urania and the Folger

The Folger holds two of twenty-nine existing copies of Urania. The library acquired the first of its copies (STC 26051 Copy 1) in 1938 with the purchase of the Harmsworth collection. The earliest known owner of this copy was one Ann Morris, who inscribed a prayer on the front flyleaf: The Lord of Heaven vpon her Look But when her passing bell doth toul The Lord of heaven recive her soul Amen 1723. By 1725, a Roger Jones owned the volume, as identified by another inscription on the flyleaf. Another owner, David Phillip, inscribed his name on the back flyleaf.