An Original Hand Written Letter Signed by Sociologist Harriet Martineau. Undated. The letter to J Toulmin Smith (lawyer and geologist) states 'Dear Sir, I am going into Kent on Friday morning, so that your note has come jist in time. I shall be at home tomorrow between 1 and 4 and shall be happy to give you any information in my power. My Aunt Mrs Lee hopes to speak with you at the same time. Believe me, truly yours Harriet Martineau. Harriet Martineau 1802-1876 was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material. She wrote from a sociological, holistic, religious and feminine angle, translated works by Auguste Comte, and, rarely for a woman writer at the time, earned enough to support herself. The young Princess Victoria enjoyed her work and invited her to her 1838 coronation. Martineau advised "a focus on all [society's] aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions". She applied thorough analysis to women's status under men. The novelist Margaret Oliphant called her "a born lecturer and politician... less distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation." Her lifelong commitment to the abolitionist movement has seen Martineau's celebrity and achievements remain particularly relevant to American institutions of higher learning such as Northwestern University with its Methodist foundations. Size is 205mm x 105mm. Condition is good. Light folding crease.