The Blood of the Nation: A Study of the Decay of Races Through the Survival of the Unfit [from the library of Jane Addams, Hull-House, with her ownership signature]

[JANE ADDAMS] [EUGENICS] JORDAN, David Starr

Published by American Unitarian Association, Boston, 1902

First printing. 12mo (17.5cm). Parchment-backed, paper-covered boards, titled in gilt on spine and front cover; top edge gilt; fore edge untrimmed; 82pp. Signed in Addams' hand, "Jane Addams / Hull House" on front endpaper. Mild external dusting and wear; a Very Good copy. A pro-eugenics tract, in which Jordan at this time the First Chancellor and founding President of Stanford University asserts the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race and advocates the sterilization of those unfit to produce offspring. Jordan (1851-1931) was arguably the leading intellectual spokesman in America for the eugenics movement, using his stature as a brahmin of American higher education to lend what was essentially a white-supremacist movement a gauze of legitimacy. He authored a number of works on the subject, of which the current title was the first; it was adapted from a paper originally published in Popular Science Monthly in May, 1901. Jane Addams' involvement in the eugenics movement, though somewhat less straightforward than Jordan's, has been much-remarked upon in later assessments of her legacy. The two were close associates and frequent correspondents, and served together as officers of the American Social Hygiene Association, which actively promoted eugenicist theories. A key association copy of an important (if abhorrent) book. The Blood of the Nation was reprinted several times, and an expanded edition appeared in 1910; the first printing is quite elusive in commerce, this a splendid association copy. Seller Inventory # 87728

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Blood of the Nation: A Study of the ...
Publisher: American Unitarian Association, Boston
Publication Date: 1902
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: First Edition.