SELECTED POEMS, by DIANE di PRIMA..

VERMONT: North Atlantic Books, 1977. Second edition, revised and enlarged.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by di PRIMA on the title page:

"For Jo / In friendship / HAPPY BIRTHDAY! / Diane di Prima / Aug 3 1999".

Softcover book, 6x9 inches, 386 pages.

GOOD MINUS condition, the covers are sunned, foxed, the spine has a crease, and there is some corner tip wear; the page edges are foxed; internally, the pages are tight, bright, clean and clear.

A special copy with di Prima's Happy Birthday inscription to her good friend Jo Kaufman.

About DIANE di PRIMA (from Wikipedia):

******Diane di Prima, b.1934 d.2020, was an American poet, known as one of the first female poets in the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Di Prima spent the late 1950s and early 1960s in Manhattan, which is where she became involved in the emerging Beat movement. She edited the newspaper The Floating Bear with Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), was co-founder of the New York Poets Theatre, and founder of the Poets Press. On several occasions she faced charges of obscenity due to her work with the New York Poets Theatre and The Floating Bear. In 1961 she was arrested by the FBI for publishing two poems in The Floating Bear.

In the 1960s, di Prima moved permanently to California where she became involved with the Diggers and studied Buddhism. In 2009, di Prima became San Francisco's poet laureate.******

******Jo Kaufman, b.1950 d.2025, earned an MFA in Creative Writing, taught at the University of San Francisco, and studied poetry with Diane di Prima. She and di Prima became close friends, a friendship that endured for decades.******

TIMEBOMB, by Diane di Prima.

SIGNED LIMITED EDITION, this being copy number 43 of only 100 copies. Each copy is SIGNED and NUMBERED by di Prima on the Colophon page (the last page).

THIS COPY is also INSCRIBED by di PRIMA on the half-title page to her close friend, Jo Kaufman:

"For Jo / with all my love / Diane di Prima / Thanks for the friendship - the play dates.... ....".

Self-produced publication, plain 8.5 inch sheets velo bound in clear plastic covers, approximately 52 pages (26 sheets). Produced in San Francisco in 2006.

Cover art by di Prima.

FINE condition, bright, clean and clear.

A wonderful inscription defining a long, loving friendship between two women.

About DIANE di PRIMA (from Wikipedia):

******Diane di Prima, b.1934 d.2020, was an American poet, known as one of the first female poets in the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Di Prima spent the late 1950s and early 1960s in Manhattan, which is where she became involved in the emerging Beat movement. She edited the newspaper The Floating Bear with Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), was co-founder of the New York Poets Theatre, and founder of the Poets Press. On several occasions she faced charges of obscenity due to her work with the New York Poets Theatre and The Floating Bear. In 1961 she was arrested by the FBI for publishing two poems in The Floating Bear.

In the 1960s, di Prima moved permanently to California where she became involved with the Diggers and studied Buddhism. In 2009, di Prima became San Francisco's poet laureate.******

******Jo Kaufman, b.1950 d.2025, earned an MFA in Creative Writing, taught at the University of San Francisco, and studied poetry with Diane di Prima. She and di Prima became close friends, a friendship that endured for decades.******

SEMINARY POEMS, by Diane di Prima.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Diane di Prima to her good friend, Jo Kaufman:

"For Jo / with much love / Diane".

Chapbook, paper wrappers with French flaps, string bound, 6x9 inches, 48 unnumbered pages.

POINT REYES STATION, California: Floating Island Publications, 1991.

FINE condition, tight, bright, clean and clear.

Rather special with the loving inscription to her close friend.

About DIANE di PRIMA (from Wikipedia):

******Diane di Prima, b.1934 d.2020, was an American poet, known as one of the first female poets in the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Di Prima spent the late 1950s and early 1960s in Manhattan, which is where she became involved in the emerging Beat movement. She edited the newspaper The Floating Bear with Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), was co-founder of the New York Poets Theatre, and founder of the Poets Press. On several occasions she faced charges of obscenity due to her work with the New York Poets Theatre and The Floating Bear. In 1961 she was arrested by the FBI for publishing two poems in The Floating Bear.

In the 1960s, di Prima moved permanently to California where she became involved with the Diggers and studied Buddhism. In 2009, di Prima became San Francisco's poet laureate.******

About JO KAUFMAN (from her obituary):

******Jo Kaufman, b.1950 d.2025, earned an MFA in Creative Writing, taught at the University of San Francisco, and studied poetry with Diane di Prima. She and di Prima became close friends, a friendship that endured for decades.******

SEVEN LOVE POEMS FROM THE MIDDLE LATIN, translated by Diane di Prima.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Diane di Prima to her good friend, Jo Kaufman:

"For Jo / this chapbook from another time / In friendship and love / Diane di Prima".

Chapbook, paper wrappers, side stapled, 6x9 inches, 32 unnumbered pages. Text in Latin and English, on facing pages.

NEW YORK: The Poets Press, second printing, 1967.

GOOD condition: A paperclip imprint is on the front cover and the first leaf, the paperclip has also left its yellow ghost image on the first leaf; otherwise the chapbook is bright, clean, clear and unmarked.

Unique with the loving inscription to a close friend.

About DIANE di PRIMA (from Wikipedia):

******Diane di Prima, b.1934 d.2020, was an American poet, known as one of the first female poets in the Beat movement. She was also an artist, prose writer, and teacher. Di Prima spent the late 1950s and early 1960s in Manhattan, which is where she became involved in the emerging Beat movement. She edited the newspaper The Floating Bear with Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), was co-founder of the New York Poets Theatre, and founder of the Poets Press. On several occasions she faced charges of obscenity due to her work with the New York Poets Theatre and The Floating Bear. In 1961 she was arrested by the FBI for publishing two poems in The Floating Bear.

In the 1960s, di Prima moved permanently to California where she became involved with the Diggers and studied Buddhism. In 2009, di Prima became San Francisco's poet laureate.******

About JO KAUFMAN (from her obituary):

******Jo Kaufman, b.1950 d.2025, earned an MFA in Creative Writing, taught at the University of San Francisco, and studied poetry with Diane di Prima. She and di Prima became close friends, a friendship that endured for decades.******

BIOGRAPHY OF MRS. J. H. CONANT - THE WORLD'S MEDIUM OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Being a History of Her Mediumship from Childhood to the Present Time...Selections from Letters Verifying Spirit Communications Given through Her Organism...Specimen Messages and Invocations from Various Intelligences in the Other Life...etc., etc., etc. By [John W. Day]. Opening Remarks by Allen Putnam

BOSTON: William White and Company / Colby & Rich, 1873. Second Edition, so stated on the title page.

Hardcovers, brown cloth covered boards, blind embossed "Colby & Rich" publisher's logo on the front and rear covers, gilt titling on the spine (including "Colby & Rich / Boston" at the bottom of the spine), 5x7.5 inches, 322 pages plus two pages of publisher's ads at the rear.

GOOD condition: The book has been professionally conserved, making the covers and binding nice and solid; the covers have some scrapes and rubs and the spine gilt is somewhat faded. Internally, the thin yellow endpapers show some creasing and a bit of edgewear, there is a slight crease to the upper corner of the pages, the front blank endpapers and the frontispiece are foxed, otherwise all the pages are tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, presentable copy, one of the nicer copies I have seen.

Though "William White and Company" is stated as the publisher on the title page, copyright page, and on the ads at the rear: the covers show "Colby & Rich" on the covers and spine. Here's what happened... Luther Colby was one of the founders of William White and Company. When William White died (or left, it appears uncertain which) in mid 1873, Luther Colby formed a partnership with Isaac B. Rich to take over the stock and operations of William White and Company. The first edition of this book was published in early 1873 before William White (died?), and was bound with "William White and Company" covers. After Colby & Rich took over White's stock and operations they published a second edition, also in 1873, with Colby & Rich covers but using the same first edition sheets, therefore leaving William White and Company as the stated publisher on the text pages.

About Mrs. J. H. Conant, Medium and Spiritualist (from Wikipedia and other Internet sources):

******Frances Ann Conant (aka J. H. Conant), b.1831 d.1875, was an American spiritualist medium. Conant was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Luther Colby, editor of the spiritualist newspaper the Banner of Light, funded Conant's public séances in Boston for seventeen years. Each successful seance was reported in the Banner of Light newspaper. Spiritualists claimed that Conant made contact primarily with the spirit of a deceased Boston physician who made diagnoses of disease and prescribed treatments. Conant was criticized by the Boston Courier and others for making fanatical, false and wild statements.******

INNERVIEWS Vol. 4 Issue 1 / LOVE and MONEY Women's Two Dilemmas / February 1980

Jo Bookkeeper, Editor. Published by the Alice Walker sub-task force of the Margaret Bourke-White Task Force of Aradia, Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1980. First edition. Illustrated pink wrappers, 8.5" x 7", staple bound, 24 pages printed on pink and blue paper, illustrated with b&w drawings throughout. VERY GOOD Condition: fore edge stapled for mailing leaving tiny staple punctures, small handwritten mailing label on rear cover, light sunning to the spine margins and a touch of light wear, overall tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scarce, just 3 holdings in OCLC collections worldwide.

Aradia, Inc. was a radical lesbian feminist separatist collective based in conservative West Michigan from 1978 to 1989. Innerviews served as a critical print forum, literary zine, calendar, and network for the regional lesbian and feminist community during an era of radical LGBTQ+ social movements. Known for their feminist activism, Aradians organized gatherings and counterculture milestones such as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and published newsletters including Otherviews and W.E.B. Wimmin of the Earth Bonding.

A secret woman built community of strong, creative, women embedded in Grand Rapids and invisible to everyone but other Aradians and those close to them. A lesbian utopia literally existing unseen within the patriarchy, a supportive community they created as an alternative to mainstream culture, one that celebrated women loving women. Aradians called their hidden world Aradia, after the goddess Diana's daughter.

FALSE POSITIVE Donna Kossy, [Editor]. Published by Out-of-Kontrol Data Korporation, San Francisco and Massachusetts, 1984-1988.

Four original issues, of the eleven print run, of this elusive 1980s fringe culture underground zine by Discordian satirist Donna Kossy:

#1 Technology Issue, 1984; #5 Food and Drugs Issue, 1986; #7 Generic Issue, 1987; #11 The Last Issue [Art & Ladies], 1988. Vintage first editions, side staple bound, 8.5" x 11" xeroxed sheets, each cover is an original color xerox collage by Kossy, illustrated throughout. Contributors include: Tuli Kupferberg, Hakim Bey [Peter Lamborn Wilson], Bob Black, Ace Backwords, and Pagan Kennedy. Four issues in VERY GOOD Condition: staples oxidizing but holding, issue #1 with two light horizontal creases from folding, overall bright, clean and unmarked.

In 1984 Donna Kossy launched False Positive (1984-1988) a self published zine that delved into obscure and unconventional ideas, establishing her interest in documenting societal outliers. She released a total of 11 issues between 1984 and 1988, each spanning 20-32 pages, blending visual experimentation with textual excerpts from unconventional sources. An archive of fringe culture filled with eccentric personalities and belief systems documenting fringe thinkers, cultural oddities, Discordian ideologies, pseudoscience, conspiracy theorists and profiling "Kooks" who espoused extreme, aberrant and discredited viewpoints. The zine employed xeroxed and stapled production methods, emphasizing the punk counterculture DIY aesthetics typical of 1980s underground publishing.

Donna Kossy (b.1957) is an American writer, zine publisher, and independent researcher specializing in fringe science, pseudohistory, and extreme ideas dismissed by mainstream academia.

SAN FRANCISCO BURNING By Helen and Pat Adam, with Drawings by Jess. Published by Oannes, Berkeley, CA, September 1963, Limited first edition, 500 copies. This is copy #10 as indicated by the small black ink stamp on the rear cover. Illustrated wraps printed in black and brown attached to card covers, 9.75" x 7.5", 98 numbered pages printed on heavy brown paper, with one leaf of blue paper serving as a section divider, illustrated with line drawings by Jess in black and brown ink here and there throughout. NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean and unmarked, one of the best preserved copies I've seen.

A controversial 1963 ballad opera written by Helen Adam in collaboration with her sister Pat Adam is replete with subversive themes of occult destruction, sexual transgression, and explicit blasphemy. Set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the dark chaotic narratives reflect subversive queer and alternative lifestyles which challenged the traditional gender power dynamics of the mid 20th century. Scottish American Poet Helen Adam (1909-1993) A prominent figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and was one of only four women included in Donald Allen's The New American Poetry 1945-1960 anthology. She was a great performer and maybe one of the most important forebears of the way poets read their poetry in public today.

TEMPLE HILL CUT-OUTS, Chefoo China

Made by the Self-help Dept., Women's Bible School, Presbyterian Mission, Chefoo China, [nd] circa 1930.

Handmade album with textured illustrated cloth softcovers, 10.5" x 8.5", 19 pages (on double leaves) with 84 cut-out red paper silhouettes of various sizes adhered to the pages. With a small printed leaf of explanatory text laid-in. NEAR FINE Condition: complete as issued, tight, bright, clean and unmarked. These souvenir books were available to visitors of the Mission in Chefoo, China.

"The cut-outs of Temple Hill are an adaptation of figures of animals, plants, insects, dragons, etc., cut by the women of Shantung for unknown generations." The cut-out were made to adorn various types of cards from Christmas to note cards to help fund the mission.

BEAT AND BEATIFIC

Published by the Three Penny Press, Studio City, CA 1959, Grover Haynes (editor), Rosie Haynes (hand-lettering), first edition, "Superbly decorated bi John Fox II." Uncommon production from the Three Penny Press featuring early poetry by Lenore Kandel and Walter C. Brown. Another 1959 Three Penny Press production "Beat and Beatific II" is the second volume of this collaboration. From Grover Haynes epilogue "The THREE PENNY PRESS, inspired by the abundance of poetry on the lips of local barefoot bards, was conceived from the inky womb of a battered mimeograph machine to become the Boswell of our own "don't give a damn" poets." ... Our booklets of poetry are experiments." Softcover. First edition. Illustrated wraps, 8.5" x 5.5", 2pp, 20 leaves, 2pp, mimeographed sheets, side staple bound, text printed on recto of 20 leaves, except for first and final leaf, which contain text on recto and verso. The work of Lenore Kandel printed on blue, yellow and pink paper and is illustrated with a full page b&w drawing of her. GOOD Condition: age, wear and coffee rings to the covers, former owners name penned to inside front cover, internally some edge wear and a few light stains, otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked.

Lenore Kandel (1932-2009) Beat Poet, Digger, Visionary, quintessential San Francisco Hippie, Beatnik, Counterculture activist, girlfriend of Lew Welch and Jack Kerouac's lover whom he immortalized in his 1962 novel Big Sur. She bridged the gap between early Beat poetics and the psychedelic counterculture, famous for her "The Love Book," a cause celebre in the Haight Ashbury scene when it was banned as obscene in 1966. In 1970 Kandel was in a horrific motorcycle accident from which she never fully recovered.

Walter C. Brown (b.1935), Poet, Naval Officer and San Francisco Giants sports commentator.

THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO, THE MOORE OF VENICE, by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. FINE PRINTING by GRABHORN PRESS. ILLUSTRATED by MARY GRABHORN.

SIGNED and INSCRIBED by JANE GRABHORN on the front free endpaper: "With love to Annie on her wedding day - from Jane Grabhorn / January 20, 1957'.

SAN FRANCISCO: Grabhorn Press, 1956. First edition. Limited to 185 copies.

From the Colophon page (the last page): "This edition, reprinted from the First Folio of 1623, is limited to one hundred and eighty-five copies printed at the Grabhorn Press in the Month of May, 1956. The type used, Franciscan, was designed for the Press by Frederic W. Goudy and the paper was made by hand in England. The drawings by Mary Grabhorn were reproduced from a combination of zinc, wood, and linoleum blocks."

Hardcovers, red leather covered spine and decorative paper covered boards, gilt titles to the spine, folio 15x10.5 inches, printed on handmade paper, CXV pages, plus title page and several blank leaves at the front and rear.

Condition: The covers' spine ends have some fraying, the inner pages have some small spots here and there and there is a darkish shadow line across two of the rear blank leaves, all likely a result of the production of the handmade paper or the hand printing; otherwise a beautiful copy, with pages that are clean and bright.

SCARCE FINE PRINTING by the GRABHORN PRESS, made wonderful with the loving inscription by Jane Grabhorn.

About JANE GRABHORN (from Wikipedia):

******Jane Bissell Grabhorn, b.1911 d.1973, was an American artist, typographer, bookbinder, and printer. Born in San Francisco, and educated in France, where she learned bookbinding. In 1932 she married Robert Grabhorn. She became a master printer, working at Grabhorn Press with her husband, and starting her own imprints: The Jumbo Press, and The Colt Press. Her thoughts about women in the man's world of printing were expressed in several of her works, including "A Typografic Discourse for the Distaff Side of Printing, a Book by Ladies".******

About MARY GRABHORN (from an Obituary):

******Printmaker Mary Grabhorn was born in San Francisco, CA, on July 25, 1932. She was the daughter of Edwin and Marjorie Grabhorn, Edwin being one of two brothers (along with Robert) who founded the noted Grabhorn Press in San Francisco. Despite little information found on her life and education, she was one of the press's most prolific illustrators, creating color woodcuts at a fairly young age for all nine of the Grabhorn Press Shakespeare folios and a French illuminated Book of Hours, among many other publications. For a time she lived in London. She died in San Francisco on September 10, 1981.******

WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau. Published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston and New York / The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1897. First edition thus, two volumes, Introduction By Bradford Torrey. xliii, 260; vi, 261-523 pages, illustrated with photogravures. Art nouveau cover design by Sarah Wyman Whitman, featuring stylized milkweed leaves, a reference to the native plant frequently mentioned in Thoreau's writings Bound in publisher's green cloth with decorative gilt stamping, laid endpapers, top edge gilt. A lovely edition of an American classic.

Very Good Condition: lacking dustjackets, light rubbing, scratching to covers, rear cover of volume 2 with an apple seed size tape piece adhered to an embossed gilt decoration, light wear to the corners, some light scrapes to the fore-edge, and sunned spines. Internally, off-setting to the prelim pages of Volume 2 from a newspaper article laid in (still present), and a bottom corner margin shoreline to the half title and frontis plates which lightly and diminishingly affect the following 8 plates. Overall, tight, bright, clean, unmarked and the gilt remains quite bright.

Sarah Wyman Whitman (1842-1904) was a Painter, Designer of book covers and stained glass, an Interior Decorator, Author, Poet, and Teacher. She was one of the most prominent book designers during the golden age of decorative bindings, notable for her elegant and restrained designs that made use of the rear board as well as the front. She was the first professional woman artist regularly employed by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin. Whitman was one of the few successful female designers of her time, and her work was highly respected by her peers. She was also a prominent philanthropist and supporter of women's education and suffrage. Whitman's legacy continues to inspire and influence contemporary artists and designers.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American writer, philosopher, and naturalist, best known for his book "Walden," a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings. Thoreau was a transcendentalist who believed in the importance of individualism, self-reliance, and the power of nature. He was also an advocate for civil disobedience and the abolition of slavery. Thoreau's writings continue to inspire and influence people today, and he is considered one of the most important figures in American literature and philosophy.

SERIOUS BUSINESS COMPANY [Scarce 1976 Film Catalogue] Freunde. Published by Freunde, Berkeley, CA, 1976. First edition. Illustrated softcover, 9" x 6", 159 pages, illustrated in b&w throughout. The film catalog of an iconic Bay Area feminist film distributor. GOOD Condition: complete as issued with a few sheets of company ephemera laid in, just some light wear from age and use otherwise tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scarce.

Freude's extremely rare catalog explores sexual identity and representation, her curated film descriptions are brief but succinct and ultimately preserve a record of films by pioneering women filmmakers of the 1960s-1970s.

Feminist filmmaker and trailblazing film distribution entrepreneur, Freude (1942-2009) was a central figure in the San Francisco Bay Area film community in the late 1960s and 1970s. Freude founded Serious Business Company (1972-1984) to champion and distribute independent, feminist, avant-garde, underground, and experimental films, ultimately establishing a catalogue of 60 artists and over 250 titles. Focusing on personal, animated, and sexuality themed works, she provided early and critical support for the works of such filmmakers as James Broughton, Shirley Clarke, Bruce Conner, Johanna Demetrakas, Tom DeWitt, Barbara Hammer, John Knoop, Kathleen Laughlin, Danny Lyon, Gunvor Nelson, Pat O'Neill, Carolee Schneemann, Penelope Spheeris, and Chick Strand, and ex husband Scott Bartlett. Her company distributed many of the era's most acclaimed independent and experimental films, and created a platform for discovering lesser known works. At the time, no major commercial distributor specialized in avant-garde films or women's film. When her business shuttered, the golden age of independent and experimental film distribution was, essentially, finished. Freude's idea of a feminist identity offer a relevant way to curate the feminist, lesbian, and queer art and film of today.

DORIS LESSING POSTER. "AN EVENING TO BENEFIT THE AFGHAN REFUGEE FUND / DORIS LESSING". The "Lecture and Conversation" event took place on April 9 (1984) in Berkeley, California.

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by DORIS LESSING in Silver Ink: "With good wishes / Doris Lessing / 9th April 1984".

The poster is 13 x 19.5 inches. It is in GOOD condition, with some creases from handling to the right margin, overall bright and lovely.

The poster was stored rolled, and will be shipped in its natural rolled state. Would look great mounted and/or framed.

This event took place a few years before the publication of her book "The Wind Blows Away Our Words". The book was about the horrors taking place in Afghanistan and how the West was doing little to help.

An unusual Doris Lessing item.

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

Report on the Congress of American Women : prepared and released by the Committee on Un-American Activities, U.S. House of Representatives..

WASHINGTON DC: United States Congress United States Congress Committee on Un-American Activities, [Government Printing Office], October 23, 1949. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING.

Paper covers, side stapled, 6x9 inches, [ii], 114 pages, plus printed front cover and blank rear cover.

GOOD condition, the pages are lightly toned, the bottom front corner has a light crease, the blank rear cover has a piece torn from its bottom corner, the staples are rusted but holding well. Overall a complete, solid, bright copy.

This original, 1949, primary source, first edition, is scarce. (Beware the common computer generated editions, (e.g. Alpha Editions, Hutson Street Press, Palala Press), sometimes being mistakenly presented as 1949 printings.)

ENGLISH CONVENTS IN EXILE 1600-1800. Five (of Six) Volumes (V.1 - V.5) of this important work on Edited by Caroline Bowden, et al.

LONDON: Pickering & Chatto, 2012-2013. First Edition.

Five (of Six) Hardcover Books, matching set, 6x9 inches. Each volume focuses on a different part of the life, culture, and works (written and otherwise) that took place in the English Convents, and the life of the Nuns that lived in them and ran them in exile. Each volume stands on its own.

The five books are:

PART 1: Volume 1 - History Writing / edited by Caroline Bowden, 322 pages; Volume 2 - Spirituality / edited by Laurence Lux-Sterritt, 532 pages; Volume 3 - Life Writing I / edited by Nicky Hallett, 411 pages.

PART 2: volume 4 - Life Writing II / edited by Katrien Daemen-de-Gelder, 338 pages; Volume 5 - Convent Management / edited by James E. Kelly, contributing editors Caroline Bowden, Richard G. Williams, 477 pages. (LACKING Volume 6 - The Convents and the Outside World / edited by Carmen M. Mangion.)

NEAR FINE condition: there is a light corner tip bump to the covers of two of the books (hardly noticeable), otherwise all is pristine, tight, bright, clean and unmarked. A lovely, very presentable set of these important works on English Convents (i.e. English Religious Women) in Exile.

From the Publisher:

******In 1598, the first English convent was established in Brussels and was to be followed by a further 21 enclosed convents across Flanders and France with more than 4,000 women entering them over a 200 year period. In theory they were cut off from the outside world; however, in practice the nuns were not isolated and their contacts and networks spread widely, and their communal culture was sophisticated. Not only were the nuns influenced by continental intellectual culture but they in turn contributed to a developing English Catholic identity moulded by their experience in exile. During this time, these nuns and the Mary Ward sisters found outlets for female expression often unavailable to their secular counterparts, until the French Revolution and its associated violence forced the convents back to England. This interdisciplinary collection demonstrates the cultural importance of the English convents in exile from 1600 to 1800 and is the first collection to focus solely on the English convents.******

The 2012 Hardcover First Editions of this work are hard-to-find. When they can be found the books are often offered individually at quite high prices.

HUNDREDS (550+) of HANDWRITTEN FORMULAS for CREATING PRODUCTS for TREATING WOMEN'S BEAUTY "DEFECTS" and for INCREASING A WOMAN'S BEAUTY. Handwritten by an unnamed Chemist or Pharmacist likely as a Book of Formulas Reference Guide.

Undated, however it is likely the formulas were written circa 1890. There are several note sheets "Hazard, Hazard & Co." letterheads laid-in at the front (Hazard, Hazard & Co. was active in the mid to late 1800s); the title page of the Burr's Medical Index in which the formulas are written is dated "Hartford, 1881"; the bookseller's label on the front pastedown states "Agent for The Henry Bill Publishing Company's Physicians' Account Books" - Henry Bill Publishing was founded in 1847 and dissolved in 1896.

Are you a woman with Freckles, Moles, Dark Spots, Warts, Bad Breath, Wrinkles, Dandruff, too much Hair, too little Hair, etc.? Do you need help making your breasts bigger, smaller, or firmer? Is your nose red and oily? Want darker eyebrows, want prettier eyebrows, want prettier eyes? Want to smell prettier, better, or just not stink? Want your face to be lighter, brighter, shinier, and your lips redder, fuller, and more delicious looking? This book has detailed formulas that can be prepared for you, products that will take care of all those, and hundreds of other beauty defects!!!

The detailed formulas are handwritten in a BURR'S MEDICAL INDEX, published by the J. B. Burr Publishing Co., Hartford, Connecticut, 1881. Likely by a chemist or pharmacist who would prepare a cream, lotion, spray, etc., based on the detailed formulas in this book.

Hardcovers, leather spine and corners with green cloth covered boards, 8.5x11 inches, filled with approximately 400 pages, indexed with alphabetical tabs. There are approximately 575 formulas for preparing beautification remedies for women, handwritten on 122 of the pages and arranged alphabetically for easy access by the chemist / pharmacist. The rest of the pages are blank.

Laid-in here and there are various slips of paper with handwritten ingredients and a couple relevant newspaper articles ("WILL POWER GROWS HAIR"; "Removal of Tattoo Marks"). The slips of paper and news articles have browned the pages they were inserted between, but the handwritten text remains bright and clear.

Laid-in at the front are three note sheets with the letterhead "Hazard, Hazard & Co., New York". The note sheets have lists of items, perhaps lotions being prepared by Hazard, Hazard & Co.

The formulas are handwritten in ink and arranged alphabetically within the tabs: e.g. within the "A" tab on page "AM" is a long formula for creating "Amandine Skin Cosmetic to Whiten and Soften the Skin"; on page "AP" are formulas for "Aphrodisiac Pastiles"; within the "B" tab on pages "BA" are lots of formulas for various "Bath Aromatics"; on page "BR" are formulas for increasing or decreasing the size of breasts, and lots of formulas for bad breath; within the "C" tab on pages "CO" are various formulas for "Complexion"; within the "F" tab on pages "FA" are formulas for various Face Creams and Face Beautifiers, on page FE are formulas for "FEET OFFENSIVE" and "FETID FEET", on pages "FR" are many formulas dealing with Freckles; etc. etc.

Handwritten on the backside of the front free endpaper is what seems to be the ""Raison d'Etre" for the formulas in this book:

******To be beautiful is the unwritten law of woman.. it is womans right and privilege to do all in her power to add to the bounteous gifts with which nature has endowed her..."

GOOD CONDITION: The covers have wear, some water staining, and have been professionally rebacked with portions of the original spine covering laid on; internally nice, some pages with browning from laid-in relevant paper items, otherwise tight, bright, clean and clear.

A wonderful, c.1890 manuscript "Book of Formulas" aimed at women who, according to this book, need help to fix and beautify every single part of their body.

THE MODERN WOMAN Magazine

A scarce woman's magazine for Russian women in Shanghai, China published in Shanghai from 1937 to 1941. Its publication started just months before the Battle of Shanghai, the military operation that began Asia's involvement in World War II. As the Second Sino Japanese War raged between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, Shanghai endured a siege that lasted from August 1937, to November 1937, which resulted in the Japanese capture of the city and heavy destruction.

During 1937, despite the ongoing war, The Modern Woman published a smaller combined September/October 1937 issue, halted the publication of its November 1937 issue, and resumed publication for its December 1937 issue. This is the entire published run for the year 1937. Published by United Magazines, Shanghai, China. Victor A. Vasiliev, Editor in Chief, Tatiana A. Barsukova, Editor. In Russian, some Chinese. NINE ISSUES: #1 February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September-October, and December 1937. Hardcover, original Publisher's textured beige cloth with black printing on the front cover and spine, 10.5" x 8", the entire nine issue run of 1937 are bound in preserving all illustrated wrappers, one original subscription insert still attached. Each issue is between 35 and 45 pages. Filled with all the reporting, stories, current events and in-text b&w photographs the au courant Russian emigre woman could want including the latest out of Hollywood, What To Wear in 1937, make-up techniques, hairstyles, events in Shanghai, world events, the latest short stories and poetry from Russian writers, crosswords, recipes, and loads of advertisements for household products, aspirin, cosmetics, soaps, perfume, fashions and local businesses. VERY GOOD CONDITION: Front blank free endpaper roughly torn out, otherwise complete. Covers are lightly worn, have some ink staining and light soil. Internally, the pages are age toned and a touch brittle, there are small edge tears, the crosswords have been penciled in, some small clear tape repairs, and light signs of use and age, overall a solid, bright and clean collection of magazines. SCARCE, especially so being the complete run of issues from its first year of publication in 1937. The OCLC has only a few random copies printed between 1937 and 1941 in 4 collections worldwide.

From the editors: "The Sino-Japanese events, which disrupted normal living conditions for both individual residents of Shanghai and entire enterprises and organizations, also had a heavy impact on the life of the magazine. The release of this issue, albeit in a reduced size, only proves the viability of the magazine and the energy with which the publisher works to, despite all the obstacles, present the magazine to readers even in these difficult times . The hostile actions that took place in China had a strong impact on the publishing of the magazine, and the editors considered it untimely to publish the magazine when thousands of our compatriots, residents of the areas that were subjected to shelling, were forced to flee from their homes, when many of them were left homeless and without means of subsistence, when it was more necessary to donate money to help refugees than to spend it on buying a magazine. However, hundreds of phone calls and masses of letters to the editor expressing the desire to see the magazine led to the fact that we are publishing this issue, overcoming all obstacles, and we expect to publish the next issue by November 30."