Woman in the 19th Century.

“The Culmination Of Centuries Of Subliminal Struggle And Half A Century Of Overt Struggle...”

Fuller, S. Margaret. Woman in the 19th Century. New York: Greeley & McElrath, 1845.

8vo.; some scattered foxing; gift bookplate from the Kennebec Historical Society on the half-title; printed pale grey-green wrappers; a few chips and wrinkles.

First edition of Fuller’s milestone work; a notoriously fragile and elusive book. A cornerstone of militant American feminism characterized by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern as “the culmination of centuries of subliminal struggle and a half century of overt struggle.” They explain: “By the end of the 18th-century, the militant feminist literature of today had its patent and obvious beginnings.” After Mary Wollestonecraft‘s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (London 1792), followed a century “rampant with such vindications, but perhaps the most world-shaking of all is the work of Margaret Fuller. Exotic American bluestocking and citizen of the world, she was a friend of woman because she was a friend of humanity...” (Between Boards, “Feminism is Collectible,” pp. 67-69).

Woman in the 19th Century fulfilled Fuller’s ambition to “illuminate” the role of women in society. In the preface she states: “The following essay is a reproduction, modified and expanded, of an article published in the Dial, Boston, July, 1843, under the title of ‘The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men: Woman versus Women.’” She explains altered title by stating that the purpose of the work needed to be more readily understood; that “Man” meant the whole of mankind; men and women alike: “By Man I mean both man and woman: these are the two halves of one thought....” Rostenberg and Stern “Feminism is Collectible” list, #100; BAL 6493.

(#4652)

Item ID#: 4652

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