THE OUTLINE OF MARRIAGE
New York City, American Birth Control League, 1926. Item #38074
First edition. Original brown paper wrappers. 8vo. 63 pages; 22 cm. A humorous book aimed at garnering support for contraception. Floyd Dell “was an American newspaper and magazine editor, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and poet...Dell wrote extensively on controversial social issues of the early 20th century, and played a major part in the political and social movements originating in New York City’s Greenwich Village during the 1910s & 1920s. As editor of the left-wing magazine The Masses, Dell was twice put on trial for publishing subversive literature” (Wikipedia, 2016) . Divided into 7 parts with smaller divisions within each with titles such as “Mating Under the Microscope, ” “Preventing Children by Marriage, ” and “The Harem of One. ” Dell wrote mostly in question and answer style, with fictional witnesses on the stand or couples answering scientists’ questions. “Q. Do you regard the meals you eat together as a matter of physical nourishment? Or do you regard them as a pleasure? A. Why, as both! Q. You do not feel that the fact of eating being an animal habit should make you ashamed of eating? A. Why should it? Q. We just wanted to know. And, on the other hand, do you feel that the only moral justification for eating is to add, let us say, more pounds to your weight? A. Are you kidding me? ” The American Birth Control League (ABCL) “was founded by Margaret Sanger in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics, primarily for the Black and Latino population, and encouraged women to control their own fertility” (Wikipedia, 2016) . SUBJECT(S) : Marriage, Humor, Birth Control. OCLC lists 25 holdings worldwide. Some rubbing. Very minimal staining. Minimal pencil markings that do not affect text. Very good + condition. (SPEC-44-1).
Price: $145.00