E-list # 195

Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1940-1941. The first three issues in a series that ran for 20+ issues from 1940-1944, beginning with Effective Industrial Use of Women in the Defense Program; Lifting Heavy Weights in Defense Industries; and Safety Clothing for Women in Industry. These issues cover safety, sanitation, pregnancy, collective bargaining, differences in physique from men, existing State regulations for weight lifting, functional fashion, a survey of the work women did in the prior World War, and many other topics, such as wages: "Rates should be based on occupation and not on sex or race of the worker." (Special Bulletin No. 1, page 19.) The first two issues are fine in stapled wrappers; the third issue has information in German crossed out on two pages and the notation "621" twice on the front cover; near fine. Frances Perkins was FDR's Secretary of Labor and her name is printed on the title pages, along with Mary Anderson, Director of the Women's Bureau. An informative look at governmental efforts to prepare for women entering into manufacturing and other industries, in anticipation of American males being called into the military. [#035143] $225

Buffalo, Presence Press, 1968. Four short untitled poems, of a sexual nature, by Acker, in the third issue of this "Magazine of the Revolution," edited by Dan Connell. We found several copies of the first issue in OCLC, but no copies of this issue. Stained at spine base; still near fine in stapled wrappers. Precedes Acker's first book by four years. [#035092] $450

Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, (1993). A limited edition, issued as part of the Author and Artist Series, of this highly regarded book of photographs by Adams, with narrative by Smith. This is No. 2 of 50 numbered copies signed by Adams. An uncommon book in any hardcover issue, and especially scarce in this limited, numbered issue. Fine in a fine slipcase. [#911241] $2,000

(North Andover), Kat Ran Press, 1998. Autobiographical poems by the Dominican-American author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies, among others. With lithographs by Sara Eichner. One of 50 numbered copies of a total edition of 65 signed by the author and the artist, hardbound in handmade flax paper by David Bourbeau of the Thistle Bindery. The second publication by this press, an elaborate production that sold for nearly $1000 at publication and has been out of print for years. Eichner has since become one of the more collectible artists working today. An attractive and uncommon volume. 11-1/2" x 16-1/4". Fine, in the original clamshell case, with a bit of dust soiling, with publisher's prospectus laid in. [#914607] $1,500

NY, Duffield and Co., 1911. "A drama in three acts" dealing with Indian life, by the author of The Land of Little Rain, which helped establish Austin not only as an early American nature writer but also as a pioneering feminist, whose study of the desert and desert cultures was tinged with political consciousness and insight. She eventually moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and became part of the literary and artistic circle cultivated by Mabel Dodge, whose other friends included such luminaries as Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe. Austin was working on her collaboration with Adams -- the limited edition Taos Pueblo -- in 1929, the year that Adams met Georgia O'Keeffe, who was in Santa Fe for the summer to paint, and Adams and O'Keeffe became lifelong friends. This copy is inscribed by Austin "To Georgia from Mary" -- although we cannot confirm that it is inscribed to O'Keeffe. Light wear to the spine extremities and joints, with tanning to the spine label; still a near fine copy. [#033900] SOLD

(NY), Bernard Geis, (1962). "The Unmarried Woman's Guide to Men, Careers, the Apartment, Diet, Fashion, Money and Men." (Yes, "Men" twice.) Advice from the long-time editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan (1965-1997), published three years after she became a married woman, at age 37. The book became a bestseller, and the basis for a 1964 film with a screenplay by Joseph Heller. It dared to separate sex from marriage and (two years after FDA approval of the pill) from motherhood, while still remaining enthralled by subservience to male desire. This copy is inscribed by Brown: "For Wayne Thomas/ I can't think of anyone I'd rather be taken off the air with! Thank you for such a happy interview/ Love/ Helen Brown." Thomas was the off-camera announcer for the Hollywood edition of The Million Dollar Movie on KHJ TV; decades prior, Brown's first job was answering fan mail for the radio station KHJ. A fine copy in a very good, lightly rubbed dust jacket with modest edge wear. The epitome of second wave feminism: closer to shore, but still drowning. Uncommon in the first printing, let alone signed and with a good association. [#035339] $750

(NY), Dial Press, (1999). A review copy of this "memoir of a revolution" by the author of Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. This copy belonged to Karen DeCrow, president of NOW (National Organization for Women) in the 1970s: DeCrow reviewed the book for the Syracuse New Times. Laid in is a typed letter signed from Brownmiller to DeCrow thanking her for the review (belatedly, in 2002), and offering to make her dinner. DeCrow is mentioned in the book (p. 225). A copy of her published review is laid in as well. Fine in a fine dust jacket with 4 pages of publisher's review material, including a Women's Liberation Movement Quiz (the answers to which can be found in the book). As fine an association copy as one could hope for. [#035341] $350

Boston, Houghton Mifflin/Environmental Defense Fund, (1987). A limited edition: the Environmental Defense Fund's Commemorative (25th) Anniversary edition of Carson's classic 1962 work, which single-handedly brought about the banning of the pesticide DDT, saving songbirds and giving wing to the environmental movement. With a new foreword by Paul Brooks, who was editor-in-chief at Houghton Mifflin during the publication of both The Edge of the Sea and Silent Spring, and who became the guardian of Carson's adopted son after her death; he also wrote the Carson biography, The House of Life, in 1972. This is Copy No. 277 of 1000 copies. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with light wear to the spine ends. A little-known, uncommon limited edition of this classic work (note: printed from sheets of a 16th printing). Laid in is an Environmental Defense Fund pamphlet entitled Reflections on Silent Spring, written by Michael J. Bean and Dr. Ellen K. Silbergeld, discussing the legacy of Carson's book, 25 years on. The pamphlet is fine in stapled wrappers. [#035673] $250

NY, Thomas Y. Crowell, (1970). Apparently the first of many biographies of Carson, preceding even Paul Brooks' The House of Life (1972). This volume was published in Crowell's "Women of America" series. Mild splaying to boards; near fine in a very good dust jacket with rubbing and wear to the edges and folds. Uncommon in the first printing, with many copies having gone to libraries. [#035674] $200

NY, Knopf, 1978. The uncorrected proof copy of the second novel, third book, by this much-loved writer who died unexpectedly in 1992 at the age of 48 of heart failure. With the signature of author Diane Johnson on the front cover. (Johnson's novel Lying Low came out this same year, also published by Knopf.) Spine-sunned, with creasing to the lower corners; about near fine. Page 8 includes a typed replacement paragraph taped over the printed text. [#035296] $200

London, Jonathan Cape, (1953). The uncorrected proof copy of the first English edition of this foundational text of contemporary feminism, despite its being unsatisfactorily translated by H.M. Parshley, and not given another translation for more than 50 years. (The wife of Alfred Knopf, Beauvoir’s American publisher, heard of the book while in Paris and asked Parshley, a retired zoology professor, for a book report, which led to his translation, which Alfred Knopf asked him to condense prior to publication. This Cape edition came out the same year.) Despite its labored English-language birth, the translation popularized the idea that in a patriarchal society women are perceived as "other" and that gender is a societal construct; and it inspired Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, and at least one generation of women. Spine-cocked, with binder's glue bleeding through; small edge tears at the extremities; a very good copy. Scarce, fragile, and a key volume in the history of gender relations. [#035342] $450

(London), Warren Editions, 1974. The first separate appearance of a piece that appeared in the Sunday Times in 1973, in which Drabble shares her delight in raising children. One of 150 copies privately distributed for the publishers "to celebrate the birth of Daisy Victoria Gili." 4-1/2" x 5-1/4". Fine in self-wrappers. Scarce. [#024844] $265

Ames Lake/Portland/Washington, D.C., M. Kimberly Press, 1991. An artist's book by the author of Geek Love, among others. One of 125 copies printed for the National Museum of Women in the Arts as the 1991 Library Fellows Artists' Book, the second volume in that prestigious series. Of each title produced, the artist received 25 copies and the Library Fellows each received a copy, leaving only a very small number available for sale. Signed by Dunn and by Mare Blocker, a highly praised book artist and Dunn's collaborator on this project. Elaborately printed and bound, with numerous woodcuts, color illustrations, fold outs, etc. Fine. [#914648] $1,500

Santa Barbara, Capricorn Press, 1970. The first book by the author of The Solace of Open Spaces and Heart Mountain, among others, a collection of poems. This is one of 550 copies of the issue in wrappers, of a total edition of 600 copies. Inscribed by the author in 1992. Mild edge-sunning; else fine. [#026009] SOLD

London, Faber and Faber, (1970). "But woman is taught to desire not what her mother desired for herself, but what her father and all men find desirable in a woman." Inscribed by Figes to her parents: "To Mummy & Daddy with love/ Eva/ 23rd May 1970." This was Figes's first book of nonfiction, a feminist classic published the same year as Greer's The Female Eunuch and Millet's Sexual Politics. Spine- and edge-sunned; a near fine copy, in a supplied, near fine dust jacket. [#034714] $1,000

NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1965). The uncorrected proof copy (divided into two volumes), of this collection of field studies of monkeys and apes, edited by Irven DeVore of Harvard University. Includes (in the "second half"), "Chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream Reserve," a nearly 50-page report by Goodall, on observations she made between June 1960 and December 1962, covering topics such as locomotion, communication, group structure, socialization, mating, nesting, grooming, feeding, tool use, and of course, tool-making. Goodall, despite lacking formal education at the time, had arranged a meeting with anthropologist Louis Leakey in 1957, and (after deflecting his advances) she became his assistant/secretary. In 1960, after Leakey had sent Goodall to London for a crash course in primates, he sent her to Tanzania to study chimps. (Tanzania, unwilling to allow Goodall to travel alone, required that she have a companion: Goodall brought her mother.) By year's end, Goodall had observed chimps not only using tools for feeding, but creating tools for this purpose, causing Leakey to write to her in a telegram: "Now, we must redefine man, redefine tool, or accept chimpanzees as humans." As best as we can tell, this is Goodall's first book appearance. Two volumes (stamped "first half" and "second half") in tall, comb-bound green wrappers. The proof does not include Goodall's images. Business card of an editor at Holt, Rinehart and Winston stapled to the front cover of the first volume; each volume is near fine. In recent years, Goodall has been writing and speaking on behalf of the chimps and the environment. The work she pioneered on the Gombe chimpanzees continues to this day: it is the longest continuous study of any animal in their natural habitat in history. [#035126] $750

(London), MacGibbon & Kee, (1970). The uncorrected proof copy of the true first edition (British) of one of the defining books of the second feminist wave, an international bestseller that called out sexual oppression, the idealized female image, domestic servitude, and patriarchal condescension. Greer famously hoped her book would "quickly date and disappear," but much of it is still relevant to the struggles of the fourth (and counting) feminist wave. The plain brown wrappers have some creasing, and there's a small coffee stain on the title label; still near fine. Extremely scarce as a proof. [#034655] $1,000

NY, Harper& Row, (1978). An early ecofeminist tract, born from the observation that the patriarchal subjugation of women paralleled the patriarchal subjugation of nature. Signed by the author. With the ownership signature of environmental philosopher Gail Stenstad. Small inked-out spot on front pastedown; sunning to edges of text block, with light foxing to top edge; a very good copy in a very good, spine and edge-sunned dust jacket. Her first book of nonfiction, and very uncommon signed. [#035146] $250

London, Faber and Faber, (1985). Three novellas. Inscribed by the author to Alison Lurie: "For Alison/ From Rachel/ with memories of good company in Manchester & a clear view to London." Assuming the year of publication to be the year of inscription, Lurie would have won the Pulitzer the preceding year for Foreign Affairs; the year following, 1986, the British Book Marketing Council named Ingalls' Mrs. Caliban as one of the 20 best novels by living American writers after World War II. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Provenance: the Lurie estate. A nice association. [#035583] $250

NY, The New Yorker, 1968-1988. Kael's own copies of 190 of her "Current Cinema" columns for The New Yorker, which she wrote for over two decades. All but two of these (one from 1968 and one from 1970) date from 1980 forward, after her leave of absence to try her hand in Hollywood. Included here are 20-26 columns for each of the years 1981-1987; 9 from 1980; and 13 from 1988. Several copies of each issue are present, which Kael has clipped together. Kael has also written the date on the majority, which tend to lack a printed date; and approximately a dozen columns bear Kael's corrections, markings or comments, in addition to one or two showing a copy-editor's changes. The first issue present, November 16, 1968, reviewing the forgettable Sean Connery vehicle Shalako, has Kael's note attached, which says, "Ugh." The lot is near fine. [#035647] $2,500

1902. September 22 [1902]. Written to Mr. [William V.] Alexander, editor of Ladies Home Journal, who had requested a series of articles from Keller that were later published as The Story of My Life. Keller humbly thanks Alexander for payment for the last article; in part: "I only wish I could have made the story of my life more worthy of the generous praise it has received...It has meant a great deal in my life, and in Miss Sullivan's too -- the thought of the happiness that she says my compliance with your request has brought her is sweeter even than the thought of the kindness shown me in the letters that come constantly from old friends long silent and new friends whose words go to the heart..." Two 5" x 8" pages, typed with blue ribbon and signed "Helen Keller." A very early letter by Keller, preceding her first book, with exceptionally good content. Fine. [#021174] $3,500

(NY), Free Press, (1999). A book on media literacy, explaining the ways women are targeted as consumers, by one of the creators of the documentary film series Killing Us Softly. Signed by the author and dated prior to publication. Later released with the title Can't Buy My Love. Kilbourne was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2015. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a blurb by Maya Angelou. [#034616] $250

Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama, 1947-1948. Two volumes of the yearbook of the University of Alabama, where Harper Lee studied law between 1945 and 1949. The 1947 Corolla shows Lee as editor of the humor magazine Rammer Jammer; sitting on the Board of Publications; voted one of the "campus personalities"; pictured as a student of law; and as a member of Chi Omega and of Triangle, an honor society of seniors who guide freshmen. In all, at least a half dozen pictures of Lee. Wear to the edges, rubbing to the joints; near fine. The 1948 Corolla pictures Lee only as a campus personality: before completing her degree requirements, Lee left law school for New York City, where she worked as an airline reservations clerk (and wrote To Kill A Mockingbird). From Lee's campus newspaper, as quoted in the book Harper Lee by Kerry Madden: "[Lee] is a traditional and impressive figure as she strides down the corridor of New Hall at all hours attired in men's green striped pajamas. Quite frequently she passes out candy to unsuspecting freshman; when she emerges from their rooms they have subscribed to the Rammer Jammer." Check marks in text; board edges worn; very good. [#023675] $1,000

Highlands, Jonathan Williams, 1958. The "Author's Edition" of this early collection of poetry, her fourth book, printed as Jargon 19. One of 50 copies, of a total edition of 500. While this edition is called for to be signed by Levertov on the front flap of the dust jacket, this copy lacks its jacket and is instead inscribed by Levertov with "love" on the first blank. Fine in plain white wrappers. [#023539] $300

(NY), New American Library, (1966). The uncorrected proof copy of her first book, one of a handful of literary first novels published by NAL during the mid-60s, including John Gardner's The Resurrection and William Gass's Omensetter's Luck. Tall, comb-bound galley sheets. Laid in is a letter sent by editor David Segal to author John Barth, sending him "yet another first novel" and requesting "the pleasure of reading your opinion," as it appears Barth had made it clear that he would not be offering "a quotable quote." A noteworthy letter: Segal took over the newly founded hardcover publishing branch of New American Library, which previously had specialized in paperback publishing only -- notably the Signet and Mentor imprints, which reprinted classics and bestsellers. Segal immediately began publishing literary fiction by young, unknown writers, and in the course of a couple of years introduced William Gass, John Gardner, Michael Shaara, Alice Adams and Cynthia Ozick to the world, all of whom went on to become major American authors. It's a bit surprising that Barth would have been averse to providing a "quotable quote" for the likes of these, but apparently that was the case. This copy is signed by Barth on the first page and with his address stamp on the front cover. Ozick's name was left off the cover and has been added in ink. Mild sunning and curling to the covers; small tear at upper spine; about near fine. A very scarce proof of an important first book, and a copy with exceptionally interesting provenance. [#031477] $1,500

North Brookfield, Thistle Hill Press, (1982). A study of and tribute to the itinerant photographers of Guatemala. With photographs by Parker and text by Neal. Printed in a deluxe edition of 100 copies, this copy is out of series and from the library of the authors. With an original selenium-toned silver print signed by Neal. The print is housed in a folding chemise; the book is bound in Guatemalan "ghost" fabric, purchased by the authors on their trip; both are enclosed in a clamshell box with paper labels. A trade edition was issued by the MIT Press, but the limited edition is extremely scarce. Fine. [#027452] $750

New Rochelle, Elizabeth Press, (1968). Inscribed by Randall to the British playwright Arnold Wesker in 1968: "For Arnold - w/all good wishes, Margaret/ 5.68." Randall, in addition to being a poet, co-founded El Corno Emplumado, a bilingual literary journal in Mexico that featured new writing from the Americas and elsewhere, until it was forced to close by the Mexican government after Randall's outspoken support of the Mexican student movement in 1968, and her criticism of the government's violent and deadly response to it. This is a fine copy in a very good dust jacket marred by a coffee stain near the lower spine, mostly on the rear panel. [#035324] $100

ca. 1950s. Both the ribbon copy typescript and the carbon typescript of this 34-page interview with Eleanor Roosevelt, apparently by Gerald Kean, as stapled to the original typescript is a photocopied note that reads, "To Gerald Kean/ with good wishes/ Eleanor Roosevelt." The typescript is headed "Chapter Two/ Eleanor Roosevelt," as though intended for book publication. A wide-ranging interview, which begins inconsequentially with questions about fashion ("I am not a very good person to ask...") and food ("I am not really a connoisseur in food..."), and then moves on to reading, the movies and the theater; ER's childhood; Teddy Roosevelt and the Democratic/Republican split in the Roosevelt family; her very first encounters with FDR; the effects of his having polio; the beginnings of his political career; her adjustments to life in the White House; the visits of Winston Churchill, and of the King and Queen of England, and Queen Wilhelmina, and of Alexander Woollcott; the tragedies of war, and of refugees; her response to those holding opposing views from hers and FDR's; her advice for young parents on raising children in an increasingly dangerous world; the need for the United Nations, and her roles as Chair of the Human Rights Commission and later (from 1953-on) with the American Association for the UN; a prescient couple of pages on the Russians and the prospect for world peace; and, lastly, her greatest aspiration: "To be useful for as long as possible." Gerald Kean was a Director at United Nations Radio; in 1951 Kean and Pierre Crenesse put together an LP tribute to Paris with musicians and leading figures of the day, including Eleanor Roosevelt; however, as best as we can tell, this interview is unpublished. The ribbon copy typescript is fine; the carbon, being on thinner paper, is near fine. [#035147] $4,500

NY, McCall, (1970). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition (published simultaneously with the Canadian edition) of her second book, a lesbian novel set in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Born in the U.S., Rule emigrated to Canada in her 20s. Her first novel, Desert of the Heart, was made into the 1985 film Desert Hearts. Long bound galleys, 6-1/2" x 11", printed on rectos only. Very good in sunned wrappers, with a small edge tear near the crown. An uncommon proof, and a landmark of lesbian literature. [#035584] $200

NY, ACE, (1970). An ACE paperback original, the second novel by this feminist sci-fi author who won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the James Tiptree Jr. Award, among others. This copy is signed by Russ, and uncommon thus. Very minor age-toning to pages; else fine. The publisher touts this as "The First Major SF Novel of the 1970's," and while that may be debatable there is no question that Russ hit the Science Fiction field like a whirlwind, challenging male supremacy and the outdated attitudes that came with it, and engendering enormous controversy for a time. She became a major figure, perhaps the major figure, in opening up science fiction writing to women and other marginalized peoples. [#035328] SOLD

NY, Simon & Schuster, (2016). A compendium of approximately 150 women of the countless who had to bring twice the fight to their game than their male counterparts, as they had to fight for their place on the field or the court or the starting line before their race could even begin. Signed by Schiot. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. An inspiring book, and a remarkable reference work. Uncommon signed. [#033906] $150

NY, A.S. Barnes, 1930. Somers was the Associate Director of the Sargent School of Physical Education of Boston University's School of Education, and later the the principal of The Margaret Eaton School in Toronto and the first female president of the Canadian Physical Education Association (CPEA). This book takes on the controversial concept of women's athletics and breaks it down into the objectives (why participate in athletics); the physiological factors (those special considerations of the female); the historical trends; and how to safely navigate a future where we may "largely disregard sex differences and build athletic programs on individual differences..." This copy is apparently signed by the author, by way of her ownership signature on the front pastedown: "Miss F. Somers/ Dennis Mass." Additional owner signature (in Toronto) on front flyleaf. A near fine copy, without dust jacket. [#035344] $375

NY, Free Press, (2010). Traister's first book, about "the election that changed everything for American women," (until it didn't). To be clear, this is about the 2008 election: when the female players included Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Edwards, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Signed by the author, with an added, "Here's to a brighter future." Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with just a small nick at the crown. [#034659] $125

NY, Random House, (2018). The advance reading copy of her bestselling memoir of her journey from her isolated survivalist upbringing in Idaho to Harvard and Cambridge. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon in an advance issue. [#034759] $100

Salt Lake City, Highland High School, 1973. Vol. XV, No. XV, covering the 1972-1973 school year at Highland High, when Terry Tempest (later Williams) would have been 17 years old. Includes two pieces by Tempest: "Brand X," a 150-word commentary on the packaging of political candidates, and "Creative Writing," a short paragraph explaining her craft, in which she takes "craft" literally by comparing writing to sailing. Tempest is also listed in the front under "Honors" as having "Publication in National Poetry Anthology," "Publication in National Essay Anthology," and "Utah Poetry Society - second place." An early appearance in print by an influential writer-environmentalist-activist: Williams has received a Lannan Literary Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Wallace Stegner Award, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association, and many other awards, including those that recognize her social and environmental activism as well as those honoring her writing. Tall stapled wrappers, with a corner crease to the rear cover; near fine. [#030151] SOLD