The Woman’s Bible.

"The Bible degrades Woman from Genesis to Revelation & yet women believe it was written by the fingers of God"; The Woman's Bible; inscribed by American suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Woman’s Bible.

[STANTON, Elizabeth Cady].

$35,000.00

Item Number: 142839

New York: European Publishing Company, 1898.

Rare early printings of The Woman’s Bible, both volumes lengthily inscribed by famed American suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton who chaired the committee that published the work. Octavo, two volumes, Part I: third edition – ten thousand, Part II: first edition – ten thousand. Both parts are presentation copies, lengthily inscribed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Part I is inscribed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Miss Mary …. compliments of Elizabeth Cady Stanton 250 West 94th New York 1899 We much read the Bible as we do all other books that have emanated from the brain of man with no special divine authority.” Part II is inscribed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Compliments of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born at Johnstown, NY, Nov. 12th, 1815. The Bible degrades Woman from Genesis to Revelation & yet women believe it was written by the fingers of God.” In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare.

"The Woman's Bible is a collection of essays and commentaries on the Bible compiled in 1895 by a committee chaired by Cady Stanton, one of the organizers of the Seneca Falls Convention (the first Woman's Rights Convention held in 1848) and a founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton's purpose was to initiate a critical study of biblical texts that are used to degrade and subject women in order to demonstrate that it is not divine will that humiliates women, but human desire for domination. In 'denying divine inspiration for demoralizing ideas,' Stanton's committee hoped to exemplify a reverence for a higher 'Spirit of all Good'" (Boles, Janet K., Diane Long Hoeveler, and Rebecca Bardwell. Historical Dictionary of Feminism. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, c. 1996). Nonetheless, The Woman's Bible was not well-received by everyone. Many members of clergy felt that the whole concept was sacrilegious, beginning with the title. "Stanton's sustained ideological assault on religious orthodoxy, especially her publication of The Woman's Bible in 1895 and 1898, represented her last but not least controversial attempt to lessen the influence of what she believed constituted the ideological basis for women's subordination in 19th century America. That she was censured and ridiculed by sister suffragists for doing so made this last crusade one of the more painful, and perhaps invigorating, of her life." (Fitzgerald, foreword to The Woman's Bible, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993).

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