Mill, John Stuart:
THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN
New York: Appleton, 1869. First American edition, though the Philadelphia edition published the same year is believed to have been published earlier than the New York edition. Green decorated cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Yellow endpapers and pastedowns. 188 pages.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), was born in London, the son of the Utilitarian philosopher, James Mill. By the age of fourteen, John had studied Greek, classical literature, history, mathematics and political economy. His father introduced him to the British Philosophical Radicals, a group founded by James Mill's close friend, Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarian philosophy is based on the principle of seeking to promote, "the greatest possible happiness for the greatest possible number." However, this theory did not consider the rights of women, and Utilitarians' such as James Mill believed that male heads of the family represented the opinions of the entire family.
John Stuart Mill followed in his father's footsteps, and in 1823, he formed the Utilitarian Society. However, in the late 1820's, he began to stray from Utilitarian principles. The influence of Harriet Taylor Mill made him focus on the "woman question," which challenged his philosophical ideas. Mill came to believe that woman should be given the same personal liberties as men and that in turn society would be improved. Mill was elected to Parliament in 1865 and during those three years defended women's suffrage. John Stuart Mill's Subjection of Women was written in 1869 and was his last published work. It is considered to be one of the most significant feminist texts, along with Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women. The Subjection was originally received with much hostility, but feminists of the twentieth century rediscovered Mill's work, and many used it as a foundation for their arguments.
From http://irw.rutgers.edu/
"The object of this Essay is to explain as clearly as I am able grounds of an opinion which I have held from the very earliest period when I had formed any opinions at all on social political matters, and which, instead of being weakened or modified, has been constantly growing stronger by the progress reflection and the experience of life. That the principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes -- the legal subordination of one sex to the other -- is wrong itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other."
Very Good condition. Head of spine moderately worn, tail of spine lightly worn. Corners bumped and rubbed. Name and date on first free endpaper (Ogden Whitlock, Chicago October 25, 1869). Whitlock sticker on front pastedown with number and date. Another owner's name and date on front pastedown (John Powell, Madison, 1927). Bookstore sticker on rear pastedown (From H. D. Chapin's Cheap Book House 91 Madison St Chicago, Ills. Libraries purchased). Small chip at top of first free endpaper. Binding stitching visible at first free endpaper and first 6 leaves. Page edges uniformly browned. Faint ¼" dampstain along lower edges, not affecting text. Contents clean. This is a very nice copy of this book.
$175.00
Bendire, Charles:
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR BREEDING HABITS AND EGGS. Inscribed
2 VOLUMES U.S. National Museum Special Bulletin #1
Washington, DC: GPO, 1892, 1895. First edition. Illustrated by chromolithographs of watercolors (of eggs) by John L. Ridgway.
Inscribed and dated "To Miss Nannie Kelly with the compliments of Chas Bendire, Washington, DC." 10/1/92 and 10/15/95. One of the finest guides written was produced by Charles Bendire for the Smithsonian Institution. Bendire's LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS catalogued the Smithsonian's considerable collection of birds and was printed in 1892. "One of oology's most memorable stories is that of Major Charles Bendire, egg collector and Indian fighter. In 1872, while on patrol in central Arizona, he noticed through binoculars a zone-tailed hawk's nest high in a tree. Leaving his troops to set up camp, he rode to the tree, tethered his horse, and climbed to the nest, keeping a wary eye open for Indians and concealing himself as much as possible.
From the nest, he plucked one of the eggs. Caution escaped his mind as he marveled at this incredible addition to his growing egg collection. An Apache scout quickly spotted him and got off a snap shot with a carbine. As the bullet zipped harmlessly over the major's head, he reacted instantaneously. Shoving the egg into his mouth for safekeeping, he hurried down the tree, jumped onto his horse, and galloped wildly back to camp with several Apaches in fervent pursuit. He managed to reach the camp, where a brief, pitched battle drove off the Apaches.
Then the real problem began. As he rode headlong into camp, gasping and gagging, Bendire discovered that he couldn't spit the egg out. It seems that as he had tried to avoid biting the egg, his jaws had tensed up and swelled. He simply could not open his mouth wide enough to remove the egg. Several men, under threat of court-martial, pried open his jaws and got the egg out intact. Although they did break one of his teeth, Bendire thought it a small price to pay for a perfect, uncracked egg of a zone-tailed hawk.
Charles Bendire later became the first curator of oology at the Smithsonian Institution, where the storied egg survives to this day, along with about 130,000 others." (From fascinatingearth.org).