Forerunner, The. Vols. I-VII [CPG Archive].
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Forerunner (Vols. I-VII) [CPG Archive]. New York: The Charlton Company, 1909-1916.
Original wrappers bound in (as issued; future bound volumes of The Forerunner do not include the wrappers). Some splitting to paper along gutters. Light silver fishing to front cover along fore-edges and around spine. Very good.
First edition. The author’s copy, with Volumes inscribed to her husband and family.
Vol. I. [November, 1909-December, 1910]. Inscribed at front free endpaper: C.P. Gilman — / 380 Washington St. / Norwich Town, Conn. Contents: What Diantha Did (novel); “An Androcentric Culture” (published as “A Man-Made World”); over 60 poems (uncollected), such as “Handicapped,” “Thanksong,” “Love,” and “Steps”; essays and commentary, “An Obvious Blessing,” “Private Morality and Public Immorality,” “Prize Children”; “A Coincidence,” “Making a Living” and “When I Was a Witch,” among other short stories; essays, reviews and commentary on “Nursery-Mindedness,” “Naughty” (on 'punishing' children), “What Virtues Are Made Of,” etc. Advertisements, all written by Gilman, appear for Lowney’s candy, Fels-Naptha soap, Holeproof Hosiery, Moore’s Fountain Pen, “Woman’s Era” magazine (Gilman is cited as a contributor) and Soapine. The latter is worth a short footnote. As a young woman, she had designed trade cards for Soapine. Gilman writes in the advertisement that she herself used to make “the small advertising cards then so popular” for the company and it is interesting to see that two decades later she retained a loyalty to the company and genuine enthusiasm for its product. Scharnhorst 253-319 (verse); 535-564 (fiction); 1329-1380 (nonfiction).
Vol. II. [January-December, 1911]. This and subsequent volumes uniform in length — 336 pp. with a “Contents” section following. Inscribed at the front free endpaper: For Francis and Emily — / from their late and lazy Sister / Charlotte Perkins Gilman / Xmas 1911 — (and up). Francis and Emily were her husband Walter’s brother and sister-in-law who during the 1920s shared a house with the couple in Connecticut. The sisters-in-law did not like each other. When the household broke up, Charlotte’s gift may have been left behind by Francis and Emily to become, once again, part of the writer’s own library. Contents: The Crux, Moving the Mountain (novels); two plays with suffrage themes, “Three Women,” “Something to Vote For”; 40 some new poems such as “The Artist,” “Another Star” (Suffrage Campaign Song for California), “The Slow People,” and “How We Worship The Lord?”; “In Two Houses” and “The Jumping-Off Place” among other short stories; essays and commentary such as “Answers to the Antis,” “The Woman of Fifty,” “Does a Man Support His Wife?,” “The Wild Oats of the Soul,” “Happiness and Religion” etc. Scharnhorst 321-366 (verse); 565-589 (fiction); 1381-1413, 1415-1426 (non-fiction).
Vol. III. [January-December, 1912]. Inscribed at the front free endpaper: Charlotte Perkins Gilman / 380 Washington St. / Norwich Town, Conn. / Lending Copy / Oct. 1925. Touch of splitting to endpapers; faint ink impression at front pastedown from inscription opposite; offsetting to endpapers (presumably from a paper wrapper originally present); mild dampstaining to rear cover; repair to head of spine; foretips bumped; touch of silver fishing along front fore-edge; tips and spinal ends a bit worn; about very good. Contents: Mag-Marjorie (novel); Our Brains and What Ails Them (non-fiction); “Mary Button’s Principles,” “Her Memories,” “A Strangeland” among other short stories; 24 new poems; numerous essays and commentary on subjects such as the Woman’s Journal, Ida Tarbell, Edna Ferber’s young heroine “Emma McChesney,” suffrage, “What Do Men Think of Women,” “Art in the Schools,” “Improving on Nature” (on reducing women to overly-adorned pets), etc. Scharnhorst 368-392 (verse); 590-612 (fiction); 1427-1436, 1439-1456, 1459-1487, 1489-1493 (nonfiction).
Vol. IV. [January-Decem
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