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A notable book and with both sound provenance and extreme added association value. Very Good condition copy sans dust jacket of the very first book published by Emily Hahn (1905-1997), Seductio ad Absurdum: the principles & practices of seduction--a beginner's handbook, the second printing in 1930 of a book published that year and that same month (March) jointly by Brewer and Warren and Payson & Clark, both of New York. Her biography and resume are extraordinary. She matriculated at the University of Wisconsin?Madison in General Arts and then tried to become a Chemistry major, but men and tradition prevented her from doing so. She changed to Mining Engineering instead, which had never had a woman enrollee. In her memoir, No Hurry to Get Home, she recounts a Professor telling her that "The female mind is incapable of grasping mechanics or higher mathematics or any of the fundamentals of mining taught."In 1926 she received BECAUSE SHE HAD EARNED a degree in Mining Engineering; her lab classmate, she recounts, begrudgingly informed her that "You ain't so dumb!"This copy is sturdy, attractive, tightly bound in peach cloth, clean interior with scattered, minor foxing thereto, minimal rubbing to extremities, bumping to spine head and tail, still sharp blue lettering to spine. Inscribed and dated (1938) by Gershon Legman, the influential, prolific erotobibliophile and bibliographer, folklorist and literary sleuth, from his own personal library as conveyed to me by his widow, the fabulous Judith Evans Legman. She has recently completed the final of his multiple-volume memoirs and is a powerhouse in her own right. In 1938 Gershon Legman was only 21 years old, yet to embark on his career as a Book Scout, folklorist, and bibliographer. He wrote nearly countless Introductions to and/or edited plentiful texts, including Mark Twain's The Mammoth Cod and of course My Secret Life, by Anonymous. Although his inscription here was written in a different pen, I can spot his signature from 20 paces if I squint. I cannot help but think that this book was instrumental to his becoming an erotophile. This is the first of the author's many, many books, a semi-serious exploration of gender relations, a topic she returned to again and again in her prolific writings including contributions she made to the New Yorker magazine. She also traveled to China during the Warlord years and hiked and trekked across the breadth of the continent of Africa.Emily Hahn's mother was a Suffragette, and her careers shows. This book, written with tongue incomplete in cheek, is comprised of various "synthesized" forms of men's seduction of women, 19 different scenarios, and each resulting in her giving in to him, neither seeming to be fully conscious of built-in prejudices or anything systemic about sexual relations, to wit: "Just Another Little One," "Feel My Muscle," "An Ugly Old Thing Like Me," "What Do You Think Your Husband's Doing?" "Promise Me You Won't," "A Man My Age," "Gonna Be Nice?" "Life is Short" and so on.xxv, 1 [1]3-198 pp. including a two-page bibliography.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.
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