Mrs. Behn

by Robert White, after a now lost portrait by John Riley
1696

National Library of Scotland, from Newb.1531

Frontispiece to Behn's The Histories and Novels of the Late Ingenious Mrs. Behn: In One Volume. The plate was originally engraved as a frontispiece for Behn’s Poems upon Several Occasions (1684). This is first state of the engraved plate, which was also tipped into some copies of an edition of Behn’s Plays (Tonson, 1702), and bound into The Dramatick Works of His Grace George Villiers, late Duke of Buckingham (Briscoe, 1715).

 

The second state adds the words "Riley Pinx." (Riley Pinxit) to the bottom left of the oval frame:

Familiar Letters of Love, Gallantry, and Several Occasions, by the Wits of the Last and Present Age (Briscoe, 1718). Courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library. This image is in the public domain.