Search Results: Women from Langdon Manor Books LLC

New York City: National Woman Suffrage Publishing Company, Inc, 1919. Very good. 6¾" x 4¾". Handbill. Very good: 2" stain to lower corner; lightly toned. This is a rare handbill, illustrated with a map showing the status of women's suffrage throughout the United States. In "Make the Map All White: The Meaning of Maps in the Prohibition and Suffrage Campaigns" (University of Colorado Law Review, Volume 92, 2021), author Susan Schulten wrote that a breakthrough in the women's suffrage movement came with a map created by journalist Bertha Knobe for Appleton's magazine in 1907. Rather than show only which states had full suffrage and which did not, Knobe's map used shading to indicate states that had made at least some progress. Schulten argued that the map "caught on for its ability to reframe a period of relative failure as a story of success, which in turn became a call to action. Across the country, suffragists quickly began to create and distribute similar maps to advance state campaigns for… Read More

Rydal, Pennsylvania/Wildwood, New Jersey: The Ogontz School/Wilson G. Kent Co, 1928. Very good. 9¼" x 6¼". Limited to 44 copies, this being number 3. Decoratively embossed leather over thick boards with purple silk moire pastedowns, aeg. pp. 259, [15, blanks] + 56 tipped in silver gelatin photographs measuring 6" x 4". Very good: board edges heavily worn with areas of loss; lacks clasp; internally very good plus or better with hints of toning at extremities and near fine or better photographs with one loose. This is an elaborate yearbook for an elite private girl's school prepared for its honorary class member, the important poet-activist, Angela Morgan. The Ogontz School for Young Ladies began in Philadelphia in 1850 as the Chestnut Female Seminary. In 1883 it moved to Elkins Park and the Ogontz estate, which precipitated the name change. By the time of this yearbook, the school was owned by Abby Sutherland who moved the school to Abington Township, built a new campus, and separated the older… Read More

Taylor and Austin, Texas, 1936. Good +. 4½" x 6". String-tied commercial autograph book with 112 pages, 35 of which contain handwritten text. Good plus: wrappers moderately soiled and worn; scattered small stains to most pages. This is an autograph book compiled by a young woman attending Blackshear High School (BHS), Allyne E.B. "Polly" Lewis. BHS was the first high school for African Americans in Taylor, Texas. Lewis went on to a long career as a beloved schoolteacher and Baptist women's leader. The first school for Black students in Taylor opened around 1881 and operated under various names. In 1918, Oliver Lewis (O.L.) Price became principal of the "Col*red School" of Taylor; at the time there were five teachers and fewer than ten students in the school. Price renamed the school in honor of Edward L. Blackshear, the noted African American educator and president of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University). Price also served as president of the Ne*ro… Read More

Michigan, 1982. Very good. 15" x 12". Full leather post binder. 128 pages with 423 photographs, 143 items of ephemera and a few dozen news clippings. Photos are in a range of sizes, most are in color and most are captioned. Album very good with light wear and lightly toned leaves; contents generally near fine or better. This is a massive scrapbook documenting international dance culture throughout the state of Michigan with an emphasis on belly dancing in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. It was compiled by Joan "Mikola" Burnham of Kalamazoo. Per the scrapbook, Joan was the wife of an attorney and started a small business around 1975, the Belly Dance Academy of Kalamazoo, (BDAK). While we don't know when Joan started in belly dancing, the book shows that when she decided to make a business of it, it took off immediately. Per the scrapbook, BDAK's first workshop was held March 13, 1976. That seminar also featured a famous dancer named "Süheyla" was held at a Kalamazoo YWCA and featured an Arab… Read More

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1916. Good. 9½" x 6¼". Green cloth over boards, t.e.g. Pp. xx, 331 + author frontispiece + 15 (of 15) unnumbered plates interspersed + laid in two page circular letter. Good: Julius Rosenwald gift bookplate on FFEP; hinges cracked; covers moderately soiled; a few leaves adhered together; scattered spotting, tears and edge wear. Owner signature in two spots. This is a reasonably common book made special by its history of ownership and association. The book, a biography of Booker T. Washington, was co-written by Emmett Jay Scott, Washington's personal secretary, key adviser and Secretary of the Tuskegee Institute, and Lyman Beecher Stowe, grandson and biographer of Harriet Beecher Stowe. It has a foreword by Robert Moton, Principal of Tuskegee Institute, and a preface by President Theodore Roosevelt. This copy features two signatures of its owner, Mrs. Nellie Lee Elmore. Elmore, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, was a teacher and supervisor of… Read More

San Francisco, CA: The Whitaker & Ray Co, 1900. Very good. 8 3/8" x 5 5/8". Cloth over flexible boards. Pp. 57, [2]. Very good: covers lightly scuffed, soiled and creased; tiny tear and offsetting to ffep; two pages moderately spotted and two with a tiny closed tear; a bit of creasing at margins; lightly toned. This is a lovely cookbook composed exclusively of recipes by women in Sonoma County, California. The book holds 230 recipes in 17 categories including breads, salads, soups, pickles and fish. Sweets were the star, with sections for puddings, pudding sauces, pies, "frozen dainties," cakes and "confectionery." Each recipe noted the California "Miss" or "Mrs." responsible for its inclusion, and there were small quotes at the beginnings of most sections, such as "Love in a cottage and cottage pudding with it" and "'An't please your Honour,' quoth the peasant, 'This same dessert is very Pleasant.'" A segment devoted to "breakfast and luncheon dishes" included waffles, baked eggs and "codfish… Read More

London and Northampton: Robert Church & Roberts Limited, 1914. 8¼" x 10". Full red pebbled leather, front board titled in gilt. 40 pages of thick card leaves, with 40 black and white photographs inserted into windows. Photos measure 6" x 8" and none are captioned. Album good: moderate overall wear, heavily shaken but all held securely, small tears to the windows of many pages; photos very good plus or better. This is a corporate promotional album for Robert Church & Roberts Limited, a British clothing manufacturer. We know the company was active as early as 1888 and as late as 1918. We're able to date the photos due to one that shows a Singer Sewing wall calendar dated July 1914. Thus, many of these photos were likely taken at the cusp of a major change in labor, with many women soon shifting to work in war related industries. The images show working conditions at factories that made women's robes, blouses, undergarments and other clothing. The firm had a factory in London at 1 to 7 Long Lane as… Read More

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Howard Harvey, Printer, 1891. Good +. 6½" x 4½". Stapled wrappers. Pp. 39. Good plus: front wrap and first several leaves with insect predation at lower inner corner, not affecting text; some staining to wrappers; clean and lightly toned throughout. This is a report issued by a religious organization that aimed to improve the lives of Chinese American immigrants, the Chinese-American Union of Philadelphia (CAUP). The text provides great insight into CAUP's belief system, informs on its work, and also sheds some light on the reasonably early years of the Chinese population of Philadelphia. According to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia online (https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/), "Philadelphia's Chinatown had its roots in the "great driving out" of Chinese from the American West in the 1870s and 1880s, when Chinese migrants fled racist backlash and violence. During these decades Chinese merchants and laundry men established a small enclave along the 900… Read More

Besant, Annie. Group of Rare Pamphlets. Mostly Adyar, Madras, India: various publishers, 1912-1914. All measure approximately 7 3/8" x 4 7/8", all in wrappers. Detailed descriptions below. Annie Besant was a British women's rights activist who was prosecuted in 1877 for publishing a book on conception and birth control. She succeeded Helena Blavatsky as president of the Theosophical Society. Besant was the legal guardian of Jiddu Krishnamurti whom she believed was "The World Teacher", Theosophy's rough equivalent of the Buddha. The Citizenship of the Coloured Races in the Empire. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1913. pp. 20. Good: wrappers chipped. OCLC locates three copies, none in the United States. Education in the Light of Theosophy. Adyar, Madras, India: The Theosophist Office, 1912. pp. 23. Very good, wrappers a bit dust soiled, owner stamp of Helen Jasper Swain ( Swain ran a gym for women and children in Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) on front… Read More

[Scotlandville, Louisiana]: [Southern University], 1938. Good. 7½" x 5¼". Handbill. Good: moderately creased and soiled; manuscript notes on both sides. This is a handbill for a debate between Southern University (SU) and Alcorn A&M College, now known as Alcorn State University (ASU). One of the debaters, Viola Johnson, fought for racial justice in higher education and went on to a noteworthy medical career. SU was established in New Orleans in 1880 as Southern University for Colored Students. It exists today as Southern University and A&M College, located in Baton Rouge, and is the largest HBCU in Louisiana. ASU, a public HBCU in Mississippi, was founded in 1871 and was the first Black land grant college established in the United States. The subject of the debate was: "Resolved: That the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] should be empowered to enforce arbitration of all Industrial Disputes." This was a hot topic in college debates at the time - the newly created NLRB was experiencing… Read More

Washington, D.C.: N.P., 1959. Very good. 10¾" x 8 3/8". Thin card stapled wrappers. Pp. ii, 67. Very good: wrappers lightly toned with a few small stains. This is a history of Iota Phi Lambda (IPL), the first African American business sorority. Replete with photographic images, the book is a thorough source of reference data and information about the group and some of its most important women leaders. IPL was founded by Lola Mercedes Parker in Chicago in 1929 "to seek greater opportunities for the Ne*ro business woman." According to the book, "the Greek letters, IOTA PHI LAMBDA, were chosen because of their meaning - Ideals of Friendship and Love." There are now more than 100 chapters of IPL in 85 cities and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The sorority's website lists their goals, including to: "Unite in sisterhood qualified business and professional women in order to enhance and improve the status of women in our highly complex, competitive business and professional world; Promote increased… Read More

Tuskegee Institute, Alabama: Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc, 1975. Very good. 11" x 8½". Stapled wrappers. Pp. 125. Very good: covers lightly worn with a few small stains, toning at spine and inked owner's name to front; tiny nick to top corner of spine extending to first few leaves; five pages with evidence of offsetting and a bit of spotting at outer edge. This is a publication of the Iota Phi Lambda Sorority (IPL) which is filled with historical data and many images. IPL is the first African American sorority for business and professional women. It was founded by Lola Mercedes Parker in 1929 in Chicago. According to the sorority's website, its goals are to: "Unite in sisterhood qualified business and professional women in order to enhance and improve the status of women in our highly complex, competitive business and professional world; Promote increased interest in the broad field of business education among high school and college young women through planned programs and scholarships;… Read More

(Hot Springs, Arkansas?): N.P., 1945. Fourth edition stated. Good +. 6¾" x 4¾". Stapled thin card wrappers. pp. 91, [4] + laid in leaf containing correct text for page 20. Good plus: wrappers moderately worn and dust soiled, occasional light staining and/or toning to text; one bifolium detached. This is a ritual book for the Heroines of Jericho, presumably issued for Arkansas chapters. It contains step by step instructions and ceremonies on how to open a new court, how to enter a court, how to confer degrees, burial ceremonies for members, and much more. There's also a photographic portrait of the author, John L. Webb, and several illustrations including the design of regalia aprons. While the book contains no statements regarding publication, OCLC locates a copy of the third edition with the same pagination and with an attribution of place of Hot Springs, hence ours above. OCLC locates no copies of this edition. This item is offered by Langdon Manor Books, LLC, antiquarian booksellers. We… Read More

New York: Sold at the Anti-Slavery Office, 1858. Good. 7 3/8" x 5¼". Brown cloth over boards. Pp. 312. Good: front cover split at joint, nearly detached but holding; light to moderate wear, spotting and small stains to covers and throughout; owner name inked to front free endpaper and penciled in two spots. This is a travelogue written by an American woman who spent several years working as a missionary, humanitarian and writer in the United Kingdom and Europe, Asenath Nicholson. Asenath Hatch Nicholson was born in Vermont in 1792. She was trained as a teacher in her hometown before she married and moved to New York. She opened a boardinghouse based on the tenets of temperance and vegetarianism, and in 1835 penned what is believed to be the first American vegetarian cookbook, Nature's Own Book. Widowed in 1844, Nicholson left for Ireland and spent 15 months walking the country. She distributed bibles, lived among the poor and witnessed the early days of the potato blight. She returned to… Read More

[Nanking, China]: Engineer Section, Army Advisory Group, 1947. Good. 9½" x 6¾". Illustrated thin card wrappers. Pp. [5], 88, [1]. Good: lacking the map; wrappers heavily soiled and worn with some loss to edges and spine; internally very good with light toning at extremities. This is a heavily illustrated guidebook to China produced for the wives and families of American soldiers. The first section provided a "Greeting" and backdrop of information: "This small booklet is intended to give you an insight into China from the point of view of an American Army or Navy family. Your husband may be stationed in Shanghai, Nanking, Hankow, Hangchow, Tsingtao or Peiping. We have tried to tell you a little about each of these places: where you will live, what kind of a home you may expect to find awaiting you, and what there is to do and see." At the time of publication, the United States Army Advisory Group was stationed in Nanking, the Nationalist capital. Americans stayed on in China post-World War II… Read More

[New Orleans, Louisiana]: N.P., 1954. Very good. 7¼" x 3¾". Plastic spiral-bound at top edge, thin card covers. Pp. 68 + two blank pages for notes at rear. Very good: covers lightly spotted with a few small stains to rear; a few pages lightly soiled at top edge; a bit of light scattered spotting. This is a rare and fantastic book of recipes written by an early African American female celebrity chef and television host, Mandy Lee. Amanda "Mandy" Lee was the on-air pseudonym for Ruth Porter Prevost. She was born in Slidell, Louisiana in 1917, and a 1950 New Orleans census listed her occupation as "lunch room supervisor" for a parish school. Later that year, Lee took over as host of a cooking show on New Orleans' WDSU-TV when Lena Richards died. Richards had been the first African American woman to host her own television cooking show, making Mandy the second. Contemporary news accounts called Mandy "a jovial person with a delightful smile and a rich laughing voice" and spoke of the "warm regard… Read More

Washington, D.C., 1942. Very good. Group of 16 pieces of ephemera measuring between 3¼" x 5½" and 11½" x 9". Most items very good: one with a tiny tear and moderate creasing at edges, not affecting any text; a few with light edge wear and a few small soil spots; some scattered light spotting. This is a fantastic group of speeches, ephemera and campaign materials related to the first woman to be elected to national office in the United States, Jeannette Rankin. Jeannette Rankin was born in 1880 near Missoula, Montana and graduated from the University of Montana in 1902. After a brief period as a social worker in Spokane, she moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and became involved in the women's suffrage movement. She helped organize the New York Woman Suffrage Party, served as president of the Montana Women's Suffrage Association and as field secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1911, Rankin became the first woman to speak before the Montana… Read More

[Philadelphia]: N.P., 1940. 20 3/8" x 13". Broadside/small poster. Very good: several small chips and a few tiny tears at edges, lightly toned at extremities. This is a striking poster for the Betsy Ross Air Corps, the first of several paramilitary women's aviation organizations that hoped to support the Army Air Corps and assist during times of national emergency. The Corps was founded in 1931 by Opal Kunz, a charter member of the Ninety-Nines organization of women pilots and the first woman to race men in open competition. The Corps had its own uniforms and was divided into nine regions across the country. We think this poster was part of a membership drive ignited by the war in Europe. We list the place of publication as Philadelphia as it references Marcelle Warner Lower as the commander of the 3rd area and an address of 2601 [Benjamin Franklin] Parkway which was where the 3rd Area headquarters was located. Also, Lower was married near the end of 1940 and immediately began using her married… Read More

New Orleans and San Antonio, 1940. Good. 122 pages with 650 black and white photos most of which are adhesive mounted. Majority of photos measure approximately 4 5/8" x 3¼" and around eighty percent are captioned. Album good due to moderate wear and several detached leaves; most leaf edges chipped; photos generally very good plus or better with around 90 loose. This album documents the college years of an important Texas businesswoman and artist, Margaret Bosshardt Pace Willson. According to a finding aid for some of her papers at the University of Houston, "Margaret Bosshardt Pace Willson (1919-2006) was born in San Antonio, TX to prominent San Antonio businessman, Frank J. Bosshardt, and German-born Hettie Koehler, the niece of the famous Pearl Brewery Koehlers. Pace majored in Fine Arts at the Newcomb College of Tulane University, and undertook postgraduate study in Architecture and Business Administration at the University of Texas, San Antonio . . . At the start of her career, she worked… Read More

Waco, Texas, 1893. Good. Black and white photograph measuring 10" x 12½" on slightly larger mount. Captioned on verso identifying all subjects. About good: several chips and losses, all at edges and corners, to photo and mount. This is a photograph of the 18 young women who graduated from Waco Female College (WFC) in 1893. WFC was a private college, affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, that operated from 1857 to 1895. Its buildings and land were then purchased by Add-Ran Christian University, which became Texas Christian University and relocated to Fort Worth after a fire in 1910. The back of the photograph identifies all the graduates of the class of 1893, including their home towns. A few also include class rank or role, such as the valedictorian, historian, "poetess" and "prophetess." A detailed article on the graduation ceremony that we found online contains a sketched illustration clearly modeled after this photograph. A rare graduation class photo from a lesser known women's… Read More