WHAT CAN A WOMAN DO; Or, Her Position in the Business and Literary World
Rayne, Mrs. M[artha] L[ouise].
Detroit, Mich. Cincinnati, O. St. Louis, Mo.: F.B. Dickerson & Co., 1885. Thick 8vo, 528pp; dark red cloth with gilded label at front and spine and elaborate embossing in blind at front and spine; floral endpapers. Title page printed in blue ink. Decorative initial caps, vignettes and full-page illustrations. Frontispiece portrait of the author. Front hinge a little strained; elaborate ownership signature at a front blank; some foxing to edges. Mild overall use to binding with tips and corners somewhat rubbed; rear panel shows staining and the small remnant of a label (?). About very good. The contents are organized into "Women in the Business World" and "Women in the Literary World", the latter includes popular poems and prose pieces such as Lucy Larcom's "Hannah Binding Shoes" and Elizabeth Allen's "Rock Me to Sleep". Brief biographical sketches accompany many of the selections. "Women in the Business World" offers chapters on "Woman's Work"; "Wages in New York and Elsewhere"; "The Profession of Literature"; "The Profession of Journalism"; "The Profession of Law"; "Government Clerks"; "Women of Enterprise"; "The Profession of Telegraphy"; "Lady Canvassers"; "Raising Poultry"; and "Keeping Boarders" among other topics. Mrs. Rayne writes in her prefatory note that some five decades earlier, Harriet Martineau reported while visiting Massachusetts that only seven professions were open to women. In WHAT CAN A WOMAN DO, Mrs. Rayne sets out to "illustrate the many employments given, by facts and curious incidents gathered from various sources and from personal observation". (Item ID: 15003)
$100.00
