New York: Duffield & Co., 1911. New edition with “a chapter on the present” (originally published, 1902). Duodecimo (18.5 cm), pp. 354. Red cloth with white titling. Frontispiece author photo. News clipping about MacLane from the Missoulian laid-in, clipping advertising an illustrated edition tipped-in on front free endpaper, along with some pencil notation. Bumping to spine ends and spine titling mostly rubbed away (front titling is still bright). The word “Sample” stamped to bottom of text block. No jacket.
Written at age 19, this book “became an instant best-seller and made her a celebrity for two decades,” according to Ohio State University professor Julia Watson. “Called the ‘Wild Woman of Butte,’ she used a Modernist confessional style to express erotic desires. She was largely forgotten until feminist interest in women’s lives revived her work during the 1970s.” In a tribute to women in Montana’s history, the Missoulian noted, “She was a sensation, hailed by some as a literary genius, scolded by others who said what she needed was ‘a good spanking.’ She wrote about drugs, death, the Devil (whom she said she wished to marry if he ever appeared, with steely gray eyes), bisexuality and angst. Her frank language shocked the country, and is seen by some as a precursor to the Flapper era.” (March 1995) Very good. Hardcover.
Offered by Elk River Books
$200.00
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