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Hard cover, 16mo, in cream cloth-covered, bevelled-edged boards with the titles printed in green titles inside a decorative vignette frame showing a lute, camera, book and architectural capital. The spine with titles, a vignette of a steam-assisted sailing vessel, and publisher J.B. Lippincott Co. at foot. No dust jacket. Top edge stained light brown. Cream glazed end papers. An index of the 48 illustrations within the text, from photos taken by the authors. [1], [1-2], 3-264 pp. [1]. First edition. **CONDITION: Very Good. Exterior shows general soiling, with minor wear at head of spine. Spine a bit darkened. Edges a bit dusty. Inside, however, hinges are in order, the glazed pages are only mildly age toned, clean and square. Some glue residue in gutter opposite title pg. Now in mylar. **George Eastman's Kodak camera process first came into use in July 1888, eliminating the complex use of plates and exposures of earlier models, and his Kodak Brownie camera introduced in 1901 made photography more available to the non-specialist, such as our authors. (Kodak History, archived) The illustrations appear to be reproduced using the early Meisenbach/Ives methods of halftone screen reproduction. **This semi-autobiographical novel of a trip taken by steamer to Europe by a couple of progressive, high-spirited young women "Sanguinelle" and "Marion," is interesting on several points. The young women are obviously college educated, aware of and taking about, scientific advances. They document their story with the newly introduced Kodak Brownie camera in a series of in-text black and white vignettes. Langley's recent (1891) experiments with air-ships are casually mentioned. While in some ways a conventional melodrama about a vacation romance, there are really interesting and sometimes hysterically funny characterizations of the attitudes and actions of the more traditional women they come across, such as the "Personage with a Lorgnette." This is definitely a read for those interested in first wave feminism.**Vermont-born AUTHOR Lucy Langdon Williams [Wilson], referred to professionally as Dr. Lucy Wilson, (1864- 1937) was an international proponent of progressive education for women, and spent most of her career as an educator in the Philadelphia area at both boys and girls schools. She would later found, and become principal of, the South Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1916. (Philadelphia Hist. Society) A trained biologist, she was associated with the Woods Hole Marine Laboratory, and also did work on Southwest anthropology and ethnography, rounding out her lengthy educational career as a professor of at Temple University. Her traveling companion and CO-AUTHOR, was Emma V. McLoughlin. OCLC 4309602. Scarce.
Ref: ADV 9208
$185.00