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Phebe Anne Hanaford : LUCRETIA THE QUAKERESS or PRINCIPLE TRIUMPHANT

J. Buffum, Boston, MA, U.S.A., 1853

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is an original inscribed copy of Lucretia, the Quakeress: or, Principle triumphant by Phebe Anne Hanaford, the first woman minister in the Universalist Church and likely America's earliest certifiable lesbian minister. This very rare book is very significant in Amerca's Women's Rights movement and notaby for being written by the author of the first biography of Lincoln after his death. This book besides being very, very scarce is inscribed on the front flyleaf: "Sarah Barker, Wilt thou accept this little book form its author, with an earnest wish for thy abundant happiness in the new relation thou art about to enter, and heartfelt gratitude to thee for the introduction to that model Quakeress and lovely woman Sybil Jones. Affectionately, Phebe Anne Hanaford Nantucket Nov 1856." An important association copy that reveals how Hanaford met Sybil Jones. A number of online references are provided: "Lucretia the Quakeress (1853), was an antislavery tract inspired by her Nantucket cousin, the famous abolitionist and Quaker Lucretia (Coffin) Mott. Hanaford's Life of Abraham Lincoln (1865) was the first biography of the president published after his assassination, and it sold an impressive 20,000 copies." [Ref: Lisa M. Tetrault "A Paper Trail: Piecing Together the Life of Phebe Hanaford" Another: "In the first decade of the twentieth century, Phebe Hanaford was asked to help officiate at the funeral services for two leading women's rights activists of the nineteenth century: the feminist philosopher Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the woman-suffrage organizer Susan B. Anthony. The two friends, who had shared a life of labor, died within four years of each other, and Hanaford knew them both well. One of the nation's first female ministers, an author, feminist, and Nantucket native, Hanaford was intimately involved in the early women's rights campaign for nearly the entire span of the seventy-five-year movement. " [Tetrault] And: "Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford may be America's earliest certifiable lesbian minister. Hanaford had begun living with a woman named Ellen Miles. Newspaper clippings preserved in Hanaford's scrapbook reported that the disgruntlement among congregation members was, in fact, over Hanaford's liaison with Miles, whom the papers called the 'minister's wife.' Hanaford, it seems, was not simply asked to cease her women's rights activities, but more specifically, to 'dismiss' Miss Miles... their letters testify to a deep and abiding affection. The two remained life-long companions, separated after forty-four years together only by Miles's death in 1914." [Tetrault] And regarding Sybil Jones: "Eli Jones (1807-1890) of China, Maine, married Sybil Jones (1808-1873). As Quaker ministers they went to Liberia in 1851, later traveling to various countries in Europe, including England, Ireland, France, Norway and Germany... Sybil Jones worked in Washington area hospitals during the Civil War, ministering to the wounded. She was in the Capitol when Lincoln was assassinated and paid visits to Lincoln's widow and to Secretary Stanton at the White House in the days immediately following. In 1867 Sybil and Eli went to the Middle East, working in Palestine and Syria. They began a girls school at Ram Allah which bears their name." The Book: Hanaford, Phebe A. Lucretia, the Quakeress: or, Principle triumphant; 172 p. ; 16 cm. Original red embossed boards and gilt stamped spine, minor loss to head of spine, several pages extending out of textblock but firmly held, corners lightly worn, overall VG.. Book Condition: Very Good

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