145 WASHERWOMAN STRIKE. The Strike of the Laundresscs [ sic ]. St Giles, London: [Henry] Disley, [1860s] “But women won’t be conquered / they are sure to get their rights” A scarce ballad broadsheet supporting a washerwoman strike for pay of three shillings a day and humorously commenting on the number of trades on strike at the time. We locate three copies of this fragile printing institutionally, one in the Hewin’s Ballad collection at Sheffield and two at the Bodleian. The Hewin’s Ballad collection dates this broadsheet to the 1860s: “the strikes concerned the washerwomen – the poorly- paid drudges who worked for the laundresses – who included many immigrant Irish girls. They toiled in dreadful conditions for very long hours with little reward” (Carnell, p. 93). The latter part of the 19th century was a time of repeated and highly effective strike action. “The Trade-Union Act of 1871 had virtually legalised the unions; a National Agricultural Union had been formed; and the nine-hour day had been won by the Tyneside engineers. These successes encouraged labourers throughout the country to fight for improved conditions” (ibid., p. 92). The poor working conditions for women in laundries was well-documented in the period. In the 1889 study Toilers in London, or, Inquiries Concerning Female Labour in the Metropolis , the anonymous surveyor notes “few people realise what severe labour it is . . . a laundress stands all day, and the heat of the room she works in makes her work doubly trying, for windows cannot be opened on account of London smuts. The atmosphere is generally such that the girls faint again and again, owing to the heat and the long hours they spend on their feet. Few people are more to be pitied than young laundresses. In the steam laundries it is no uncommon thing to find 200 or 300 women, girls, and children working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and often until 10 p.m. They are ripe for a trades union” (p. 226). As a consequence, there were repeated strikes on a factory-by-factory level across the country, a notable example in October 1860 being the large-scale walkout of washerwomen from factories in Hastings and St Leonards, in which their demands were met within two days. Broadsheet (258 × 179 mm). Printed on recto only, in two columns. Creasing and short closed tears to slightly brittle edges, overall a well- preserved copy of this ephemeral piece. ¶ Peter Carnell, ed., Broadside Ballads and Song-sheets from the Hewins Mss. Collection in Sheffield Library , 1987, 525. Bodleian Broadside Ballads online Ballad Roud Number: V26663. £1,500 [161901] 146 WILDE, Oscar (ed.) The Woman’s World. London: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1887–90 “we should deal not merely with what women wear, but with what they think, and what they feel” Scarce complete set of the progressive journal edited by Wilde from 1887 to 1889, which published the work of many up- and-coming female aesthetes and writers, including Sarah Bernhardt, Marie Corelli, Dinah Craik, Ouida, Agnes Mary Frances Robinson, and royals Elisabeth of Wied, Queen
146
of Romania, and Princess Helena, the fifth child of Queen Victoria. In a significant departure from convention, each article was attributed to its author by name. Wilde promised that, under his editorship, the magazine would “deal not merely with what women wear, but with what they think, and what they feel”, hoping to transform it into “the recognised organ for the expression of women’s opinions on all subjects of literature, art, and modern life” ( Letters , pp. 297, 332). He was “by no means the first male editor of a women’s magazine. His imprimatur was, however, unique. Wilde was represented in journals like Punch as a somewhat alien creature: indolent aesthete, Irish sycophant and later, homosexual pariah. Briefly, The Woman’s World made him respectable” (Green, p. 117). In fact, the position came naturally to Wilde, who had always been sensitive to women’s social causes and supported their advancements in arts and culture. The first issue under his editorship appeared in November 1887. Contributions included an essay on “The Position of Women” by Eveline, Countess of Portsmouth, a short story by the poet Amy Levy (see item 97), and a mere eight pages on “November Fashions”, relegated to the back of the magazine. Three volumes, quarto. Original pink cloth, spines and front boards lettered in gilt with decoration in pink, edges sprinkled red. Each volume in a custom green cloth wrapper. Cloth a little soiled and marked, a few inner hinges cracked, sometime repaired, book blocks remaining firm, contents remarkably clean. A very good, well-preserved set. £2,500 [144968]
145
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
LOUDER THAN WORDS
108
109
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker