What Diantha Did
New York: Charlton Company, 1910.
First edition, first printing of the author's first novel and an early feminist work. Bound in publisher's original maroon cloth lettered in gilt. Very Good+ with slight fading to the spine, light wear to cloth at corners and spine ends, rubbing to joints, light soiling and some streaked staining to cloth visible mostly in raking light. Pages tanned, short 1" split to bottom end of hinge at the front endsheet, erased pencil marking to front free endpaper. Perkins' novel follows the protagonist’s rise from domestic servant to the head of a diversified business that includes maid service, cooked-food delivery, restaurants, and hotels, proving to the world the social and financial benefits of “organized housekeeping.” By assigning a cash value to women’s “invisible” work, providing a means for the well-being and moral uplift of working girls, and releasing middle-class and leisure-class women from the burden of conventional domestic chores, Diantha proves to her family and community the benefits of professionalized housekeeping.
Price: $8,500