Anthony, Susan B.

The History of Woman Suffrage. Volume I: New York: Fowler & Wells, 1881 — Volume IV: Rochester, Susan B. Anthony, 1902



Volumes I and IV only (I: 9 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.; 241 x 146 mm; IV: 9 1/4 x 6 in.; 235 x 152 mm). Vol. I: Frontispiece portrait foxed, light browning to title-page. Publisher's purple cloth blocked in blind, spine lettered gilt, brown coated endpapers; repairs to head and foot of spine, spine sunned, gilt lettering rubbed, color on boards retouched, upper hinge repaired. Volume IV: Publisher's maroon cloth paneled in blind, spine lettered gilt; spine slightly sunned, upper hinge cracked.  Both volumes housed in maroon cloth folding cases, brown morocco lettering pieces on spines.

First editions, inscribed by Susan B. Anthony on the half-title of Volume I and on the front free endpaper of Volume IV. Volume I: "George Francis Train | With grateful memory | of his valuable aid | in Kansas in 1867 & | The Revolution 1868 | Susan B. Anthony | Madison Square | Nov. 22, 1881." Volume IV: "George Francis Train | & his daughter | Mrs | Stamford Ct | See what gains have | been made since Kansas 1867 — | four states with full suffrage  Wyoming | Colorado, Utah & Idaho — Great hope for | the future — With great respect & gratitude | Susan B. Anthony | 19 Madison St. | Rochester | U.S. | June 20, 1903."

In 1867 Anthony and Stanton began campaigning in Kansas to support full women's suffrage in that state. There they met financier George Francis Train, who had himself helped on the Kansas referendums. Despite their efforts, a constitutional amendment for full suffrage was voted down in 1867. He also underwrote a speaking tour by Stanton, Anthony, and himself in the cause of woman suffrage. More importantly, in early 1868, he financed the suffrage weekly, The Revolution, with Anthony as its publisher and Stanton and Parker Pillsbury as editors. As Anthony's inscription in volume IV proclaims, the states that first granted women the right to vote were Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1895) and Idaho (1896).