Feminism & Women's Studies Books

Hardcover. Chicago, Ralph Fletcher Seymour Publisher, 1st, 1945, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth with black lettering, 294 pages, SIGNED BY AUTHOR on half-title page, illustrations throughout. Minor corner and edge wear, previous owner's signature on half-title page and light edge fade, otherwise, clean and tight copy.

Softcover. Boston, Samuel Hall, reprint, 1794, Book: Fair, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover 12mo, 56 pp. Small, tall 16mo, original marbled paper wrappers. First published in 1695 by Lady Mary Cressy, under the title The Whole Duty of a Woman; or, A Guide to the Female Sex, from the Age of Sixteen to Sixty, &c. For a new edition in 1753, the author was simply listed as "A Lady." In fact, this author was William Kenrick (1725-1779), English novelist, playwright, and founder of the book review digest The London Review. Kenrick was described by Paul Fussell in PMLA (June 1951) as "one of London's most despised, drunken, and morally degenerate hack writers in the later eighteenth century." In this tiny volume, Kenrick assumes the persona of a fallen woman, now reformed, who wants to persuade other women to live a life of virtue. Chapters include Curiosity, Reflection, Vanity, Knowledge, Reputation, Applause, Censure, Insinuation, Affectation, Modesty, Chastity, Complacence, Acquaintance, Friendship, Elegance, Frugality, Employment, Virginity, Marriage, Education, Authority, Widowhood, and Religion. Considerable wear to wrappers, still intact.