VENUS McFARLAND by ADAH CAMILLA DODD-POINCE.

Self-Published, [Dayton, Ohio], 1900.

Hardcovers, cloth covered boards, 4.5x6.5 inches, 150 pages. Includes a frontispiece of the author, below which is her printed signature. The text is illustrated with a couple plates. VERY GOOD condition, the covers are lightly soiled, internally the pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

An amazing West Virginia and Ohio woman's first and only book.

What makes this book important is its author, Adah Camilla Dodd-Poince. She was an important, yet mostly overlooked, West Virginia and Ohio suffragette, political activist, supporter of "Negro" rights, educator, speaker, lecturer, and world traveller. She greatly deserves to be rediscovered. Also, this true 1900 first edition of her book is nearly impossible to find.

The novel takes place mostly in West Virginia. It is about a strong young woman named Venus McFarland who defied the urgings of her friends to stay put in the rural West Virginia county where she was born, and instead followed her dream of studying at a University and becoming a renowned speaker, lecturer, and proponent of education and women's rights. In the novel, Venus was becoming a popular lecturer when she married a man whom she loved but who demanded she give up her speaking engagements. Venus refused, separated from her husband, and went her own way for many years, lecturing throughout the world. Venus never backed down, and never bowed down to a man. The novel's three page ending is sappy, the man realizes what an oaf he was, begs for forgiveness, promises to be supportive, and, as a result, Venus and her ex get back together. Though a novel, the book seems to reflect much of the life and mind of its author, Adah Camilla Dodd-Poince.

This is one of my favorite passages: "Were she a man I would wager her voice would some day be heard in the halls of Congress; being a girl I don't know how it will end, but one thing is sure, I'll stand by the little witch to the end."

Though this was Adah Dodd-Poince's only novel, over her lifetime she wrote many articles, editorials, reports, reviews, etc. for magazines and newspapers in both West Virginia and Ohio, and a 10 page drama in 1949 about a Church in Dayton, Ohio.

About ADAH CAMILLA DODD-POINCE, b.1867 d.1955, (extracted from History of Berkeley County, West Virginia, 1928):

******Adah Camilla Dodd-Poince, daughter of David Dodd and daughter of Berkeley County, West Virginia. For many years she taught in the rural schools of Berkeley County. In 1922, she married John William Poince of Ohio and began her married life in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Emerson College of Oratory in Boston, Massachusetts, whose president was RALPH WALDO EMERSON. She made his lofty ideals her own and strived to advance education for women, bring honesty and humanity into politics, and establish higher standards of living for the poor.

To accomplish these goals she lectured in 11 states of the Union, toured Europe five times (visiting every country), traveled to Canada and Mexico, and saw much of Africa and the Near East. She stumped for Woman's Suffrage and "Negro" rights, was a campaign speaker in every state and national election from 1918-1928, and lectured in schools, colleges, churches, and before both men and womens' clubs.

During her life Mrs. Dodd-Poince contributed many articles to Ohio and West Virginia magazines and her editorials appeared in many newspapers. Her countless lectures and travelogues included: "To Him Who Hath"; "The Under Dog in the Fight"; "Vision, Voice and Victory"; "From the City of Commerce to the City of Silence"; "From the Eternal City to the Moslem Center"; and "Alaska, the Land of the Weird".******

PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE INCLUDED IMAGES OF A THREE PAGE LETTER WRITTEN BY ADAH DODD-POINCE TO W.E.B. DU BOIS, AND A ONE PAGE LETTER DU BOIS WROTE IN RESPONSE. THEY ARE THE LAST 4 IMAGES. THESE IMAGES WERE PULLED FROM THE WEBSITE OF THE