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155 x 95 mm. (6 x 3 3/4"). 124 pp., [1] leaf (ads). Original brown printed paper wrappers, flat spine, inside wrappers and back cover with ads (discreet repairs to upper corners of front cover). Housed in a fine custom made, green cloth drop-back box. Wright I, 1081. For the author, see: Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States, pp. 371-72; Feminist Companion to Literature in English, pp. 474-75. See also: Ganter, "The Unexceptional Eloquence of Sarah Josepha Hale's 'The Lecturess'" in "Journal of the American Antiquarian Society" (2004). Covers vaguely soiled, front corners a little creased, text with frequent foxing (sometimes noticeable) due to paper quality, but still an extremely well-preserved copy of a fragile item, with joints and hinges as good as new. In an excellent state of preservation in its original wrappers, this is the first known American novel featuring a women's rights activist, written by one of the 19th century's leading editors and tastemakers. The story follows Marian Gaylord, an educated and outspoken young woman who earns a living by lecturing on the importance of female education. As the story progresses, Marian's attempts to step into public life bring serious personal consequences affecting her reputation, relationships, and health. At the novel's end, Marian, on her deathbed, repents her lifestyle to a close friend, telling her that "approaching death has taught me how wrong were all my opinions. It taught me that true pride, true independence in a woman, is to fill the place which her God assigns her; to make her husband's happiness her own, and to yield her will to his in all things." Despite the author's apparent belief that woman's natural place is in the home, Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879) was herself a successful career woman and seems to have been as progressive as often as she was conservative on a number of issues related to women's rights. According to ANB, "In an age when women were regarded as natural invalids confined to the home, she urged the necessity for women doctors, women nurses, and women teachers and helped found schools for their training; she advocated physical exercise and fresh air for women, sensible dress, and an end to tight lacing. In addition, she supported the use of any labor-saving devices that would make domestic work easier, such as the sewing machine and the washing machine, and, in spite of religious opposition, she fought for the use of anesthesia for surgery and in childbirth." Hale was not, however, a suffragist, and the "Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States" notes that "Debate continues about the nature of Hale's feminism. Some scholars criticize her as a proponent of 'women's sphere'; as a believer in women's moral superiority, she expected women to provide spiritual leadership for western civilization and for the Christianization of the world. . . . [But she] disliked women public speakers, abolitionists, and women's rights proponents. Yet, she advocated property rights for married women, female doctors, and, in her later life, support for working women." Despite displaying considerable ambivalence in the world of emerging feminism, Hale is acknowledged by modern scholars as having an important role in literary history, being "the most prominent American woman engaged in literary enterprise in the mid-nineteenth century," and "the first of the great 'lady editors." (Oxford Companion) Widowed at the age of 34 and with five children to support, Hale turned to writing to provide a living for her family. Her first successful novel, "Northwood" (1827) is considered to be "one of the first American novels to deal with the question of slavery." (ANB) She also wrote children's books and poetry, including the popular nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Her success led to editorial positions at "Ladies' Magazine" and "Godey's Lady's Book," where she remained for 40 years. There she made her most enduring marks on American c.
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