New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1931. Hardcover. "The story narrated in the following pages is not a story of merely extraordinary and exceptional episodes in the history of the Sisters of Mercy, but rather it gives a glimpse into the normal, the usual, in teh life of these devoted women" (introduction). Ex-library with call number sticker to spine and pocket to rear endpaper. Bound in the original dark blue cloth boards with gilt title to spine and front cover. Frontispiece and several illustrations. Clean. Chipping and tears to edges of some pages (where they were opened poorly). Split to front after first free endpaper. 281 pages. REL/070820. Very Good. More

Boston: Hill and Company, (1988). Hardcover. 4to. PRESENTATION COPY from authors. Near fine in black cloth backed lavender paper covered boards with blue title to spine. Minor fading to edges of boards. Interior is clean and bright with black and white photographic illustrations on every page. Blue illustrated dust jacket with yellow and purple title to front and spine panels. 134 pages. Women's Studies. WOM/702. Near Fine in Near Fine Dust Jacket. More

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1903. Hardcover. 12mo. Dark blue cloth boards with gilt title and decoration to spine. Gilt emblem to front board. Clean and bright. Includes several illustrations. Laid in postcard. 155 pages. ENGBIO/091620. Very Good. More

Cornwells Heights, PA: Mother Katharine Drexel Guild, 1972. Hardcover. Signed and inscribed by the author (Sister Duffy). "The life story of Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955), foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, spans a long period of time and covers eventful and far reaching developments in the history of the United States" (preface). Blue cloth boards with gilt title to spine. Wear and rubbing to boards. Inscriptions to both endpapers. Authors signature and inscription to title page. Small dampstain to top corners of first few pages. Clean overall. 434 pages. REL/071520. Very Good. More

Philadelphia: Heirloom Press, 2017. Hardcover. Number 4 of 5 copies. Signed by the artist. Folio. "Curio is a collection of quotidian objects that speaks to the idea of woman as domestic curator and as weaker vessel. Images of household vases, cups and bowls are paired with inkblots that evoke the trappings of middle-class existence" (artist's statement). Includes text adapted from the 1868 collection of articles, "Modern Women and What Is Said of Them" and the Kate Chopin novel "The Awakening." Many of the excerpts that the artist has chosen to include objectify women, likening them to jewelry, tables, and other precious possessions. For example: After scolding his wife for sun bathing, Mr. Pontellier looks "at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage." Also "The mind ought to be developed a little, and in such a way as to make the body more piquant and attractive. Like the candle inside a Chinese lantern, it may serve to lighten up and show to advantage the pretty devices outside. But the outside is the important thing, and the inside only incidental" (from "Modern Women ...). Others comment on how wives should be controlled or "managed" and the power dynamics within the home. A powerful book about the subjugation of women. Bound in full white alum-tawed leather with seven raised bands to the spine. Printed using letterpress, screenprint, and lithography on paper handmade by the artist. Size: 22 (wide) x 14.5 (tall) inches when open. ARTB/060920. Fine. More

Ft. Lauderdale: Dorothy Krause, 2010. This is an intriguing unique artist's book from noted book artist Dorothy Krause. This unusual work beautifully demonstrates Krause's approach to creating artists' books. The book is based on Shakespeare's "Seven Stages of Man;" however, this version has been rewritten to reflect the life stages of women. This rewritten version includes infant, schoolgirl, lover, mother, matriarch, Sixth Age (of forgetfulness), and Seventh Age (a return to childishness - without teeth, sight, taste, etc.). Following is an excerpt: "... Then a mother. Full of strange oaths, and aware of her children's needs. Jealous in their honour, sudden, and quick in response. Seeking their good reputation even in the tempting life. And then matriarch in fair round belly. With good capon lin'd with eyes severe. And dress of formal cut. Full of wise saws. And modern instances. And so she plays her part ..." It is made from Katie MacGregor's lime green handmade paper over multiple layers of mat board in which dimensional objects, including brass stencils for numbers 1 through 7, unexposed glass negatives, padlocks and keys are embedded. It is housed in a vintage green silk dome lidded box embroidered with cream and dark green threads. It is lined with ivory silk, with a vintage linen napkin hemmed to the size of book and tied with tea-dyed trim that enables the book to be removed from box. Shakespeare's "Seven Stages of Man", rewritten for Woman, is printed digitally in olive green ink on a sheet of vegetable vellum paper and laid in the box below the book. In fine condition. Measures 9.75 x 5.875 x 2.25 inches, [14 pages]. Krause is a painter, collage artist and printmaker who incorporates digital mixed media into her art. Her work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums and featured in numerous current periodicals and books. In her artist's statement she says: "My work includes large scale mixed media pieces, artist books and book-like objects that bridge between these two forms. It embeds archetypal symbols and fragments of image and text in multiple layers of texture and meaning. It combines the humblest of materials, plaster, tar, wax and pigment, with the latest in technology to evoke the past and herald the future. My art-making is an integrated mode of inquiry that links concept and media in an ongoing dialogue – a visible means of exploring meaning." Fine. More

Washington DC: 2017. Hardcover. Number 5 of 10 copies. Initialed and numbered by the book artist. Jennaway Pearson is a printmaker and book artist residing in Washington, DC. She teaches at American University and George Washington University. Her work is held in institutional and private collections across the US including the Museum for Women in the Arts, the Library of Congress, and UCLA. In this provocative work, Jennaway explores the meaning of “champion” by connecting figure skater Tonya Harding with the goddess Juno, protector of women. Despite being a record-breaking skater, Harding was a victim of her family, a demanding sporting organization, a tragic marriage, and an insatiable tabloid culture. Pearson suggests that Harding, like many women, would have benefited from the protection of Juno, whom the Romans saw as presiding over all aspects of a woman’s life. The book begins with three pages of text printed as handwritten script on yellow tablet sheets. It offers a sympathetic telling of Harding's life, drawing from an early documentary and a later media reports. This is followed by striking images representing both her life and the themes of the book. The text and images are each in a gathering with a cover sheet with two white squares and black numbers representing skating competition scores. The book was supported by a grant from the College Book Arts Association. Bound in black cloth with title in blue script on front cover. In a coptic-style stitched binding. The book is entirely screen printed on Arches 88 and Rives BFK papers. Housed in a black cloth slipcase with title on front. In fine condition. Measures 11.5 x 13.25 inches. Fine. More

Warner Paperback Library, 1975. Paperback. "At sixteen, Fannie Bell Fleming from the mountains became Blaze Starr, the stripper. She wowed them in clubs across the country, carried on with the Mayor of Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo, and nearly married the Governor of Louisiana, Early Long. This is her story" (back cover). Bound in off-white paper wrappers with red title to spine and front cover. Photographic illustration of Blaze Starr to front cover. Crease and short closed tear to rear cover. Creasing to spine. Browning to interior, but text remains bright and legible. Remnants of an old price sticker to rear cover. Includes 16 pages of black and white photographs (some with partial nudity). 206 pages. AMERBIO/062118. Very Good. More

Washington DC: The Bureau of National Affairs, 1989. Paperback. SCARCE. 8vo. White and yellow illustrated paper wrappers with black title to front wrapper and to spine. Minor creasing and rubbing to wrappers. 267 pages + about 150 pages of appendix. WOM/032817. Very Good+. More

[Baltimore]: n.p., 1933-1937. An uncommonly complete example of one girl's education during the Great Depression. These four uniformly bound volumes collect the schoolwork of Judith Warner during the four years she was a student at Calvert School in Baltimore. Calvert School was founded in 1896 and is still a private school for boys and girls. Judith's lessons included world and US history, geography, art, spelling, and mathematics. Judith appeared to have accomplished her studies with relative ease, as demonstrated by the graded tests and report cards included here. She writes earnestly and neatly about such topics as the Earth's beginnings, landmarks in various cities, famous historical figures, and so on. Some of the assignments were structured as letters to her mother regarding her progress. Bound in dark green cloth with cream title labels printed in black to front covers. Black metal strips bind the spine of the first volume. Handwritten text in pencil and ink; magazine clippings pasted to some pages to illustrate the lessons; a hand-colored illustrations at the beginning of each month. Some additional texts laid in. It seems likely that Judith's bound volumes of her school work were commissioned by her father, James O. Warner, who was the president of a wholesale paper distribution company that served the local book publishing and printing trade. Clean and sound with only light wear to ends and corners. Very good condition. Measures 8.5 x 11 inches. Unpaginated, about 300 pages per volume. EDUC/031722. More