41 CHOISIR. Ma liberté, la contraception; mon ultime recours, l’avortement; mon choix, donner la vie. Paris: printed by imprimexpress, Joué-les-Tour, for Association Choisir, [1970s, but after July 1971] halimi, de beauvoir, and the manifesto of the 343 A striking psychedelic poster advocating for the right to contraception and abortion, produced by Choisir, the women’s rights group established by Tunisian-French lawyer Gisèle Halimi, philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, biologist Jean Rostand, novelist Christiane Rochefort, and biochemist Jacques Monod. Choisir’s initial objective was to protect the women who had signed the controversial Manifesto of the 343. WorldCat locates one copy, at Stanford. Original chromolithograph poster (71.5 × 35.2 cm). In fine condition. ¶ Katherine A. R. Opello, Gender Quotas, Parity Reform, and Political Parties in France , 2006. £450 [148831] 42 CHOPIN, Kate. Bayou Folk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1894 a pioneer of american feminist consciousness, inscribed to a canadian socialite First edition, inscribed by the author “very sincerely yours Kate Chopin”, and additionally inscribed by her son “In remembrance of a very happy acquaintance. Will you let me say ‘Friendship’? Jean Baptiste Chopin”. Books signed by Chopin are undoubtedly scarce. A third hand notes the recipient as the Canadian socialite Bessie Hees (1874–1974), dated and located as St Louis, 1894; her bookplate with her married name of Sullivan, following her marriage to the Canadian author and poet Alan Sullivan
(1868–1947) in 1900, is on the front pastedown. The pair later moved to England, where she established herself in society, to the extent she and her daughters were presented at court. She was connected to the British literary scene through Alan (their lifestyles always funded by her family wealth), but her daughters recorded that Alan’s unwillingness to promote himself prevented her from becoming central in that world, as she would have liked (McLeod, p. 61). Bayou Folk was Chopin’s first collection of short stories. “This volume met with immediate critical acclaim, and Chopin was catapulted from virtual anonymity to celebrity . . . During the 1890s, as Chopin’s fiction became increasingly well known, she herself moved into the center of the intellectual, literary, and social life of St. Louis” ( ANB ). “Chopin is now seen as a pioneer of both American realism and feminist consciousness. To a degree that was ahead of her time, she rejected both conservative and liberal didacticism and discarded traditional assumptions in an attempt to depict honestly and empathetically the inner life of women” (ibid.). Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, grey coated endpapers. Spine faded to brown, rear inner hinge cracked but firm, white stain to bottom edge, occasional spot of foxing to contents, annotation to final blank. Still a very good copy. ¶ Gordon McLeod, Essentially Canadian: The Life and Fiction of Alan Sullivan , 1982. £4,000 [148998] 43 COSTUME; JUVENALIA. An Alphabet of Female Costumes. [London? c.1840s] women’s apparel from nepal and tahiti to ecuador and kamchatka A scarce suite of alphabetical cards depicting women in national or regional costume, amidst evocative landscape backdrops, and regional landmarks. WorldCat locates only two sets, both in the US: University of Rochester (complete), and Princeton (incomplete, lacking one card). The card for Wales shows a figure wearing the distinctive hat gymreig, which first appeared at the end of the 18th century and gained popularity during the 1830s. By the time of publication, it was established as an icon of Welshness. The Greek costume is reminiscent of the French painter Louis Dupré’s magnum opus, Voyage à Athènes et à Constantinople, ou collection de portraits, de vues, et de costumes grecs et ottomans (1825– [1839]). Intriguingly, the Japanese costume is in a westernized Victorian style. This misconception is likely a result of the isolationist foreign policy before the opening of Japan in 1845. Dupré was particularly interested in people’s attire and was meticulous about details, so his work vividly depicted the sitters of the portraits he produced. Although entirely without imprint, the use of hand- coloured lithography in conjunction with the style of the costumes suggests that they were produced in the 1840s. 26 hand-coloured lithographed cards (132 × 100 mm). Housed in original blue morocco-grain cloth box, printed paper label on lid. Occasional marks, box slightly rubbed and soiled, splitting at two corners. A bright set. ¶ Not in Abbey. £3,750 [148348]
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