WOMEN 
“Go,
Sisters, Go, Without a
Fear” — An English
MS.
COLLEGE
Songbook
(Girton College). [Tuthill, A.E.]. Manuscript on paper, in English. “Girton College songs.” Cambridge, 1876–84. 8vo (29.2 cm, 11.5"). [2] ff., [86] pp. (approx. 60 used).
• This early manuscript songbook for Girton College, the first residential women’s
college of the University of Cambridge, is taken according to its title-page from “the Copy presented to the College by C. L. Maynard [at the] First meeting of the old Students, held 25th March. 1876.” But songs and lyrics were added to this book in the original hand at later points than that, and the final addition is in a different hand and dated 1884. The Maynard volume is in the Girton College archives, and while Girton was sufficiently a “singing school” for generations that surely other manuscript songbooks were compiled, we locate no others.
Single-click any image where the hand appears onFounded by Sara Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon, Girton was originally known as the Hitchin College for Women before its relocation and renaming in 1873. Although the women students were not granted the full rights of Cambridge degrees until 1948, “Girton girls” quickly achieved numerous academic successes, many of which are vividly commemorated in songs or verses present in this volume. One such piece—sung to the tune of “The British Grenadiers”—honors the Girton Pioneers, the first three women to sit the Tripos exams (these are the university’s honor examinations, and one of the first three Gifton champions was C. L. Maynard). Another entry, a rousing take-off on “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” celebrates the“Charge of the Five [Girton] Students” who nobly passed the “Little Go” in December, 1872: “Papers to right of them, Papers to left of them, Papers in front of them Rustled and threatened. Pelted with questions round, bravely they stood their ground . . .”
The controversy over women’s degrees was raging hotly at the time of this book’s creation, and is reflected in a number of the songs, with less political entries including “Auld Lang Syne,”“Gaudeamus,” “The Great God Cram,” and “Farewell, dear Friends, Farewell ye comrades dear.” 
There is much to smile at, much to think about, and much to admire, in this Victorian keepsake volume.
Provenance: Front cover gilt-stamped “A.E. Tuthill”; one page bears the ownership inscription of Katherine V. Woodward of New York.
• Contemporary limp morocco, front cover gilt-stamped as above; extremities rubbed, with leather cracked and partially lost over spine. Several leaves partially excised or affixed deliberately to one another; some instances of light offsetting and a few instances of verses struck lightly through with pencil (we cannot venture why). Otherwise clean.
Beautifully
Bound & Illustrated FRENCH Edition
“Tr.
by Mme. Bachellery”
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Les souffrances du jeune Werther. Tr. by Mme. Bachellery. Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1886. 8vo.
Click any image where the hand appears on
present
in four states.
• A copy in lovely condition, imperceptibly rebacked with the original spine retained. Original wrappers bound in. Protected in a crimson morocco-edged slipcase.
A
PRB&M “FEATURED BOOK” —
First Edition ofMargaret Fuller’s First PublicationGoethe, Johann Wolfgang von, & Johann Peter Eckermann. Specimens of foreign standard literature... vol. IV. containing conversations with Goethe, from the German of Eckermann. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, & Co., 1839. 12mo (20.3 cm, 8"). xxvi, [2], 414, [2 (blank)] pp.
Click the title-page for an enlargement. • NSTC 2F18403; Sabin 71523 (series described in note). Later pebbled cloth, spine with printed paper label; cloth slightly worn over extremities and just starting to split over front joint, spine label darkened and with upper portion chipped. Spots of faint to mild foxing.
English Law — Woman PrinterGreat Britain. Court of Common Pleas. Reports. 1682–1704. The reports and entries of Sir Edward Lutwyche, Kt. Serjeant at law, and late one of the judges of the Court of common Pleas...made very useful for students and practisers of the common law. By W. Nelson of the Middle-Temple, Esq. [London]: Eliz. Nutt & R. Gosling, 1718. Folio (33.1 cm, 13"). [14], 528, [36 (index)] pp.
• ESTC T8304. Contemporary full calf, covers framed in blind using double fillets on three sides and a floral roll on the fourth; rebacked and corners redone at some point using lighter calf, gilt-stamped leather title label. Abraded and worn, with front hinge(inside) tender. Pages age-toned, some more so than others; yet the volume almost entirely free of spotting. (Our image is a bit distorted, above right — Nutt & Gosling could print in straight lines, and did!)
FOUR
Sisters
to be(got)
Married?!
Grey, Elizabeth Caroline. Lena Cameron. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson & Bros., [ca. 1850]. 8vo. [2], 7-129, [1] pp.
• Removed from a nonce volume. Back free endpaper with library pocket. First signature separated. Stray pencil marks; some staining. (7370)
Four Stories — Love at the Heart of All of 'Em Grey, Elizabeth Caroline. Alice Seymour. A home tale...complete in one volume. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson & Bros., [ca. 1840]. 8vo. [2], 7-99, [1] pp. [with the same author's] The baronet's daughters; and Harry Monk...complete in one volume. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson & Bros., [ca. 1845]. 8vo. 126, [2] pp. [and] The belle of the family. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson & Bros., [ca. 1845]. 8vo. [2], 7-99 (69-86 bound out of order) pp. 
• 19th-century library half-sheep with paper-covered sides; binding much worn, front and back covers pressure-stamped by a now-defunct institution, front cover separated and back joint cracked, leather lost over corners, paper abraded and cracking. Front pastedown with bookplate, last advertising page with pocket. Pages age-toned with some light waterstaining and cockling; a few edge tears and stray pencil marks. (7402)
Copy
for the“Busted
Bibliophile”?Hale, Sarah Josepha. Flora’s interpreter: Or, the American book of flowers and sentiments...fourteenth edition, improved. Boston: Thomas H. Webb & Co., (1833). 12mo (19 cm, 7.5"). 262, [2 (index)] pp. (157–68 repeated, 169–80 skipped); 2 col. plts.
Provenance: Early inked ownership inscriptions reading “P.N. Spofford” on the front fly-leaf and the title-page.
• Original printed paper–covered boards, front cover detached, with paper cracked over the spine and back joint, and some light staining to the covers. A few verses with pencilled notes; pages with occasional small, light spots. The pages from 157–68 are bound in twice in this copy, with the pagination skipped from 169–80; the text headers go from “rose, bridal” to “rose-bud, red.”
Women's Rights — “Published by the Author”Hanning, John. Rights of women vindicated in the following sermon. New York: Pr. by T. Kirk for the author, 1807. 12mo (19 cm, 7.5"). 12 pp.
Provenance: Title-page verso with early inked ownership inscriptions of James Bemiss and Nelson Bemiss.
• Shaw & Shoemaker 12709 (describing the second edition only). Uncut copy. Removed from a nonce volume and now in a Mylar folder. Pages lightly age-toned, with a few small spots of foxing. Some short edge tears and dog-eared corners. Inscriptions as described above.
“My
daddie looks sulky, my minnie looks sour,
/ 
They frown upon Jamie because he is poor” Harry Bluff. Logie O'Buchan. Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [ca. 1825?]. 12mo. 8 pp.
• NSTC 2B38504. Removed from a nonce volume. A few traces of very faint spots of foxing, else clean and fresh. (16824)
“O
Lovely Mildness!”Hayley,
William. The triumphs of temper; a poem. In six cantos...the second edition.
London: J. Dodsley, 1781. 4to (28cm, 11"). xii (lacking half-title), 166, [2]
pp.
• ESTC T1746; NCBEL, II, 658. Marbled paper–covered boards, old-style, front cover and spine with printed paper labels. Lacking half-title. Title-page and a few others faintly stamped by a now-defunct institution. First few leaves lightly foxed, scattered small spots elsewhere, a very nice copy.
 TO Part
VII .
. . |