The Subjection of Women.

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1869. First American edition. 7-1/2 x 5 inches. 174,[6, ads]pp. Green cloth with gilt stamping to spine. Shelworn, with a slight cock to the spine; slight bump and indentation to rear board; leaves age-toned; light soiling to a few scattered margins; pencil ownership signature to title page. About Very Good.

First American edition of Mill's influential work of political philosophy in favor of women's legal and social equality, published the same year as the British first edition. Controversial at the time, Mill's argument that the moral and intellectual advancement of humankind -- men and women alike -- would yield the greatest amount of happiness for all, and that, as a result, women should have the ability to defend their rights by voting, is now a classic of political theory. Worth noting is the fact that, according to his autobiography, Mill wrote the book with the aid of his daughter, author and feminist Helen Taylor, and credits his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, with "all that is most striking and profound" in what was written by him; much of Mill's argument here echoes Harriet Taylor Mill's 1851 essay, The Enfranchisement of Women.