Our Bodies Ourselves: A Course By and For Women (First edition, second printing)

First edition, second printing of a foundational text of the second-wave feminist movement, radical both in its political messaging and because it was written “by women for women.” Arising out of a 1969 workshop at Boston’s Emmanuel College centering women’s health and sexuality, this guide book was first published in December, 1970 in an edition of 5000 by the Boston Women’s Health Course Collective and the New England Free Press under the title Women and Their Bodies. As workshop and collective organizer Nancy Hawley recalled, “We weren't encouraged to ask questions, but to depend on the so-called experts. Not having a say in our own health care frustrated and angered us. We didn't have the information we needed, so we decided to find it on our own."Largely self-distributed, the book became an underground sensation, leading to a re-formatted (though textually intact) second printing of 15,000 copies in April, 1971 with the new title Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS)—a nod to female bodily autonomy and empowerment. OBOS would go through 11 printings totaling 250,000 copies between 1971 and 1973, when commercial publishing rights were assigned to Simon and Schuster. The present item is from the April, 1971 second printing—the first with the OBOS title. 8.5” x 11”, publishers original side-stapled newsprint self-wraps, 136 pages, b/w photos and illustrations. With contributions by Nancy Hawley, Toni Randall, Abby Schwartz, Jane deLong, Ginger Golfer, Nancy London, Joan Ditzion, Fran Ansley, Pam Berger, Betsy Sable, Wendy Sanford, Jane Pincus, Ruth Bell, Pala Doress, Esther Rome, Marty Ruedi, Nancy Mann, Barbara Perkins, and Lucy Candib. HIGHLY SCARCE THUS. Light damp staining to mildly foxed wrappers. Creasing along staples, with closed tears at staples to front cover. Creasing to rear cover, with 2” open tear to top corner. Light creasing to textblock, with 2” closed tear to page 3.…