407 pp. feminist treatise, not illustrated. Octavo (7 3/8 x 4 5/8). Original printed wrappers. Some consistent toning throughout, light foxing to edges, pages uncut, one page with a one-inch tear, overall very good. Paris: Marcel Giard, 1923.

Hubertine Auclert (1848-1914) was an important French feminist and campaigner for women's suffrage. The establishment of the Third Republic in France in 1870 helped open the doors for women activists, who made demands for women's education and economic independence as well as the legalization of divorce. Auclert got her start working as secretary to Léon Richer, an early feminist journalist. Beyond the standard demands many women were making, Auclert also pushed for women to be given the right to run for public office. In 1876, she founded the Société le droit des femmes to support women's suffrage.

In 1888, Auclert and her husband moved to Algeria where they lived for four years, until Auclert returned to Paris a widow. During those four years, she took on the work of advocating for the rights of Algerian and other Arab women. She continued her activism throughout her life, smashing a ballot box in 1908, and presenting herself as a candidate for election to the legislative assembly in 1910. She died in 1914, the day after France declared war on Germany but her activism continued even after her death. This volume, published in 1923, was released almost a decade after her death.

Les Femmes au Gouvernail opens with this address to the reader: "Dans les Femmes au Gouvernail ceux qui admettent le Féminisme verront avec intérét Hubertine Auclert continuer à plaider par delà sa tombe, contre l'inégalité, qu'a créé au détriment des femmes, les droits que les hommes se sont seuls attribués. Elle voulait les femmes au gouvernail pour qu'elles puissent réparer les injustices qui frappent leur sexe dans les lois, dans la politique et dans les meours - dans les meours, en chargeant la femme de supporter seule les conséquences de sa faute avec son complice. Elle voulait encore les femmes au gouvernail parce que les femmes associées aux hommes apporteront au gouvernement de leur pays les qualités dont la nature les a douées: le bons sens, la raison pratique et l'économie qu'elles appliquent à la tenue du ménage."

The treatise goes on to advocate for women's rights and participation in government, touching on topics such as voting, women in parliament, the role of women in society, domestic labor, motherhood and child rearing, and the emancipation of women. Auclert's work is a plea for equality, justice, and the recognition of women's labor. As of May 2026, OCLC locates only a single holding of this work in the United States.

Book ID: 53705

Price: $1,750.00