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112 PARKS, Fanny. Wanderings of a Pilgrim. London: Pelham Richardson, 1850 2 volumes, large octavo. Original blue morocco-grain cloth, title gilt to spines together with a block of Krishna playing his flute, large gilt pan- el incorporating Skanda mounted on a peacock to front boards, the same design in blind to rear. With 49 plates, 21 of them chromolithographs, 4 with hand-colour and finished with gum arabic, the rest lithographic, 8 single-tint, uncoloured folding lithographed panorama of the Himalayas in end-pocket to volume I. A little rubbed, with some small repairs to head and tail of spines, endpapers renewed, light browning to book block, some spot- ting of plates, the uncoloured lithographs being particularly affected, but overall a very good copy retaining the handsome original cloth. first edition of this uncommon work, a highly detailed ac- count of Indian life, religion, and culture, largely based on the jour- nal Fanny Parks kept as a record for her mother of her time in India from June 1822 until August 1845. Parks travelled extensively in In- dia and often alone (“she sailed up the Jumna River to Agra, and up the Ganges to Fatehgarh, and spent nearly a year visiting Cawn- pore, Meerut, Delhi, and Landour in the Himalayas”), and the work details her various encounters en route (Robinson). Parks “was characterized by remarkable physical stamina, and indefatigable enthusiasm and curiosity about every aspect of Indian life” ( ODNB ). She was fluent in Hindustani and notably wary of the enforcement of European customs on Indian communities through religious conversion and supposedly philanthropic endeavours. Her friend- ships with Indian women such as the Baiza Bai, the ex-queen of Gwalior, enabled her to take part in marriage and other ceremonies normally barred to Europeans. “Her knowledge of Indian women’s life strengthened her sense of the universal exploitation of women, whether in Asia or England, in which latter she condemned the in- justice of the educational and legal systems” ( ODNB ). The numerous and lavish illustrations in this work were provided by Parks herself, her friends, and Indian artists. “Everywhere she went she sketched . . . preserving with arsenical soap specimens for her renowned ‘cabinet of curiosities’ . . .” [Her book] “won wide
acclaim. Reviewers noted the accuracy, detail, and range of obser- vation—as well as the unusual character of the authoress” (ibid.). Abbey 476; Howgego II, I1; Robinson, p. 218; Sabin III, p. 631; Theakstone, John, An Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Women Travellers , 2017, p. 392. p. 320. £5,000 [95111] 113 PETHICK-LAWRENCE, Emmeline, & Frederick (eds.) Votes for Women. Vol. III. October, 1909, to September, 1910. London: [printed by St Clements Press, Ltd, for the Women’s Social & Political Union,] 1909 Folio. Original purple half sheep, neatly rebacked in matching purple buck- ram lettered in gilt, decorative white cloth buckram-covered boards lettered in gilt with the WSPU “angel of freedom” logo designed by Sylvia Pankhurst printed in purple and green to centre of front board. Numerous black and white illustrations throughout. Ex-Reading University library, with their shelf mark lettered in gilt to spine, stamps, labels, and bookplate to rear board and front pastedown (with deaccession stamp). Binding somewhat rubbed and soiled, corners through, contents a little brittle at front and rear, now expertly strengthened, first leaf of the index split and a few early leaves chipped but with minimal loss, now professionally laid down, largely sound if a little browned, overall very good. an iconic volume of the pethick-lawrences’ influential periodical of the suffrage movement, the official organ of the WSPU until 1912, bound as advertised in the 24 September 1909 supplement The Story of Votes for Women at the cost of 11s. 3d. The third volume in particular features coverage of the relatively new “official practice” of hunger striking, first enacted in aid of the suffrage cause on 5 July 1909 by Marion Wallace Dunlop, which prompted the gov- ernment to introduce force feeding in prisons in September, a prac- tice depicted within these issues in a number of frank cartoons. The year 1910 also marked the beginning of some of the most militant years of the movement, particularly in regard to property damage. The suffrage paper Votes for Women was founded by the Pethick-Law- rences in 1907 and just two years later had reached a monthly cir- culation of over 30,000, providing the WSPU with the medium to consolidate and spread its message across the country. Due to what Frederick Pethick-Lawrence termed a “media boycott” by the main-
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