"THERE ARE NO HOLIDAYS FOR THE WOMAN WHO IS ALWAYS BEHIND WITH HER WORK": FIRST EDITION OF ROE'S HOW SIX GIRLS MADE MONEY: OR, OCCUPATIONS FOR WOMEN, 1887
ROE, Marion Edmonds, pseudonym of ROE, Mary Ann Edmonds. How Six Girls Made Money; or, Occupations for Women. Mount Morris, Illinois: Brethren's Publishing, 1887. Square octavo, original green cloth, patterned endpapers.
First edition of this guide to entering the workforce for American women in the late 19th century.
Written by Marion Edmonds Roe, a pupil of the activist and women's suffragist Frances E. Willard, this practical guide instructs girls and young women on how to obtain employment. Recognizing that women outside the upper class were often forced to support themselves, Roe endeavored to provide information on economizing, dressing well, improving one's appearance (regardless of homeliness), and choosing a suitable trade or profession ranging from laundress to lawyer. Roe ended the work with a description of housekeeping as a trade—arguably the trade in which nearly all women, regardless of formal education, had enough rudimentary knowledge to succeed. Roe's perspective was refreshingly forward-looking and feminist; indeed, she went so far as to argue that women should force their way into unconventional fields with the knowledge that the quality of their work would ultimately prove their value. Addition in an unknown hand to dedication reading: "Marion Edmonds Roe—Mother of H.E. Roe."
Interior fine, minor rubbing and soiling to cloth. A near-fine copy.