1. [Mary Edith Bevan] as Molly Bevan: "Christmas Again" and Other Poems (1923: Bell Telephone Company, Montreal). [24pp] mould-made watermarked wove stock deckled on fore- & bottom-edges, last leaf blank; faux-parchment backed gilt blue boards, in unprinted card slipcase; 215 x 150 x 6 mm (book); 225 x 151 x 9 mm (case). Keepsake volume of poetry by an employee at Bell Telephone Company, Hamilton, printed two colours throughout, with Foreword by Paul A. McFarlane, editor of the company's Blue Bell Magazine (where her first poems appeared). The author's little-known first book, with final poem, 'In Memoriam', a fitting tribute to Alexander Graham Bell. Inscribed on ffe (three weeks before she turned 20): "To Evelyn, with love and many thanks for putting a tuck in me ginge-Ham skirt / Molly / Aug 1, 1924". Welsh-born Mary Edith Bevan (1904-94) realized only one subsequent volume (Gifts of the Year, 1927: Macmillan) before marrying John Taylor (1934) & moving to the States (1938). However her poem 'Armistice Day' from that second book, remains a minor classic. WorldCat traces only 8 copies of the present title, with no mention of the slipcase. A tight clean copy with 2cm joint splits at pull. The cream paper covering of the case is soiled, with slight wear at extremities (& paper loss on front from sticker removal); but the case itself is remarkably well-preserved. 375.00 [i know you have her listed but the book's scarce enough to warrant including its description] 2. Bea Chalett & Grace Fugler (editors): New Advance (April 1944: Toronto). 32pp; stitched in illustrated paper covers; 264 × 189 mm periodical. Includes fiction by Stefan Heym & Joseph Kessel, the third installment of Wilfred Hayforb’s history of jazz & a lengthy letter from George Nasir on race hate. Inside rear cover prints the first Hall of Fame strip by 16-year-old cartoonist George Morley. Carter Dyson, Rockwell Kent & Leslie Roberts are listed among the contributing editors. A nice copy. 45.00 [see pdf] 3. Alice Chown & Marjorie Price: Poor Penguins: A Satire in One Act on the Stupidity of War (1935: The League of Nations Society: Toronto Branch). [8pp mimeo]; stapled at head, into mimeographed blue cover (15 cents on face); 280 x 215 mm pamphlet. Undated play-script (with address on cover of 43 St George St, Toronto); an entirely unrecorded publication by the iconoclastic activist, pacifist & preeminent feminist, Alice Amelia Chown (1866-1949) in collaboration with "Marj. Price". Co-founder (with Laura Hughes & Elsie Charlton) of the Canadian Women's Peace Party (1915); founding member of the Toronto Equal Franchise League (1912); & founder of the Women's League of Nations Association (1930); Alice Chown is only recognized as the author of a single book (both in Watters & WorldCat), The Stairway (1921). Nor is the present work mentioned in Benson & Conolly's Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre. The International League of Nations Society (established in 1915) spawned not only the Canadian branch, but the Canadian National Committee on Refugees (1938) organized to encourage Parliament to accept displaced European Jewish refugees (with the first female Canadian Senator, Cairine Wilson, as Chair); ultimately to no avail, & Canada's eternal shame. The present play appears to be a product of the mid-thirties when Senator Wilson was compelled to defend the League (& its Canadian support Society) against charges of corrosive pacifism & irrelevance, in the face of mounting German aggression. References in the play to "poison gas", "millions killed", & a hypothetical attack on China & Japan together, suggest that WW2 had yet to erupt. In an article in The University of Toronto Varsity Vol 54 No 14 (17 October 1934) entitled 'Fine Programme for League Unit', impending League Society events include, "Early in December the Toronto branch is to put on a play at Eaton's Auditorium with the idea of raising funds and of gaining publicity for the movement [p2]." If not referring to the present play, it at least illustrates that theatrical performances were being employed by the Society at this time. The article further reports that "The Women's League of Nations Association, headed by Miss Chown, has been affiliated with the Toronto branch under the wing of the main local body, thereby enabling greater cooperation and efficiency [p1]." The final leaf includes a sketch of two penguins, with a pattern for producing their costumes. A well-preserved copy of this very early mimeo literary imprint, with an old fold across. Rare. 1750.00 4. Esther Kreengle-Bach Cohen: Esther's Story: The Reminiscences (1950: privately published, Toronto). [112pp]: foliated [viii], 1-[98], I-[VI]; gilt navy linen, unprinted jacket; 234 x 158 x 14 mm. A private biography of Lithuanian-born Esther Kreengle-Bach (1875-195?), Mrs Philip Cohen (1896-1911) who emigrated with her family of five young children, from Manchester to Toronto in 1907; printed for relatives & friends, at the Arcadian Press, Toronto. Written in Yiddish (following her eldest son Jacob's death in 1950), it was translated by Sonia Hagalili of the Jewish Daily Forward (New York) & edited by the author's youngest son, Lewis Cohen (who encouraged her to write it). The author's husband, who had been in Canada since 1905, died six years later (1911), leaving Esther with six young children to raise on her own. Her eldest son, Jacob Laurence Cohen, KC (1898-1950), is not only credited with having "invented" labour law in Canada, through dedication to union rights, collective bargaining & civil liberties [Roy McMurtry in MacDowell, Renegade Lawyer: The Life of J.L. Cohen, p xi], but also with supporting his mother & siblings after his father's death. Well-written & direct, a touching portrait by a woman of enormous fortitude, not to mention one of only a few immigrant memoirs by women of her day. A sequel to the present volume, The Years Following the Death of Philip, remains unpublished. A tight clean copy in the unrecorded unprinted jacket, lightly worn only at crown of spine. Extremely scarce (WorldCat locates only 2 copies). 425.00 5. Mary Frances Edwards: After Dusk (nd: self-published, Toronto). [68pp, first & last two leaves blank] mimeographed rectos; stitched in screened card covers, yapp edges; 200 × 135 × 5 mm. The author’s first book (issued 1942), a very early mimeo production in Canadian letters. Two longer poems, ‘To an Airman After Death’ & ‘Blown Bugles’ address the war. Pencil name neat on flyleaf. Covers dusty. 225.00 [see pdf] 6. Jean M. Ellis & Isabel Dingman: Facepowder and Gunpowder (1947: S.J. Reginald Saunders, Toronto). 232pp (last leaf blank); gilt red linen, jacket; 210 × 139 × 24 mm. The author’s colourful account of service overseas with the Canadian Red Cross (1943–5), written in collaboration with (& at the instigation of) Windsor reporter Isabel Dingman. Inscribed ffe: “To my very dear Velma Bassingthwaighte – with best wishes from an old friend – Jean Ellis”. Illustrated by Jack Hambleton, with a Foreword by Major-General C. B. Price. The recipient has preserved three relevant clippings of the author (all from the Victoria Daily Times): leaving for vad training (31 July 1943); ‘Red Cross Workers at the Front’ (an undated photo of the author at the Canadian Army Hospital in Holland); & ‘Victoria Girl Writes Book’ (6 November 1947). Nice obscure bookseller’s ticket on pastedown: “Bett’s Bookshop Oak Bay Avenue Victoria BC”. A fine enough copy, sadly in a ratty tape-reinforced jacket. 45.00 [see pdf] 7. Margaret Mackay MacTavish: Brain Bairns: A Collection of Short Verse (nd: W. S. MacTavish, Belleville). [64pp coated stock]: [ii], 62; gilt deep purple cloth; 190 × 130 × 7 mm. Posthumous collection issued by her husband; dedicated to their son Major Reverend Roswell Murray MacTavish, who died at St Omer France, 6 February 1919. (Note: another Roswell Murray MacTavish, Flying Officer RCAF, 439 Tiger Squadron, was killed 18 March 1944 in Scotland, aged 24.) Includes numerous war poems; three others are dated 1927. First section concludes with ‘To Mother (on the day of her death)’ signed “Gladys”. Loss of a 1.5 × 1 cm piece at crown of leaf 35/6. Spine faded; upper joint exhibiting wear. Not in Watters. 125.00 [see pdf] 7. Dorothy Milne: Random Thoughts in Verse (nd: The McCleery Cumming Co, Washington Iowa). [64pp] Hamilton Kilmory mould-made paper, tipped frontis; gilt emerald linen, jacket; 185 × 133 × 6 mm. Published after the native of Victoria B.C. & her husband had relocated to the States. Frontis portrait by husband Bruce Milne, repeated on lower panel of jacket. Comprising three sections: ‘Depression Years’ (including a poem entitled ‘Toronto’s Greenwich’); ‘War Years’; & ‘Aftermath’. Several of the war poems are remarkable in their sentiment. A little known imprint; not in Watters. Jacket faded along backstrip. 125.00 [see pdf] 8. Helen T. Douglas Robinson: Candle and Cup (1941: The Crucible Press, Toronto). [24pp, tipped plate]: [ii], 22 (last leaf blank); stitched in illustrated card covers; 193 × 124 mm pamphlet. One of the Carillon Poetry Chap-Books (1938–60) issued by heroic Hilda Ridley for readers of her periodical, Canadiana. The author sustained permanent injuries as a nurse during the First World War. Foreword by Rev J. D. Mackenzie-Naughton; Introduction by the Chevalier Galloway Kyle, Director of the Poetry Society, London. Includes the ominously-titled ‘War Is Not All the Hell There Is’. Triptych leaflet tipped to ffe, includes a revised version of her poem ‘World War’ (p7) together with portraits of the author (the more recent, signed with her current address in Florida). The poem illustrated with the tipped-in plate, ‘There’s a Brave Little Town’ (p12) has been annotated by the author with the words “Owen Sound” where she was raised. A very scarce booklet together with a rare little-known leaflet. Covers a trifle toned; staples slightly corroded. 175.00 [see pdf] 9. Jane Smart: Elizabeth Smart's sister (see Rosemary Sullivan's bio of Elizabeth) 10. Elaine Vadlan: Poems of Elaine Vadlan (1917: self-published, Kitchener). [52pp coated stock]: [ii], 50 (last leaf blank); saddle-stitched and bound with patterned endleaves into gilt olive cloth; 155 × 111 × 6 mm. “Printed for the Author by Rittinger & Motz Limited, June 1917.” A very early Kitchener imprint (the city having had its name changed from ‘Berlin’, 1 September 1916 – in honour of Lord Horatio Kitchener, British Minister of War, lost at sea 5 June 1916). Pencil name on pastedown; ink name (dated 1927) beneath the author’s photographic portrait. Includes ‘Brittania’ & ‘Heroes’ amid a wash of devotional detergents. A nice copy of an extremely elusive imprint. 425.00 [see pdf] 11. Julia Grace Wales / Anna Letitia Wales / Emma Theodosia Wales: Argenteuil Lyrics (1935: The Watchman Press, Lachute). 44pp (first & last leaves blank); stitched in plain card covers with yapp edges & cover label; 190 × 118 mm pamphlet. A family gathering by the renowned peace activist, author of Continuous Mediation without Armistice (1915) & The ‘Conscientious Objector’ and the Principle of International Defense (1918); including a small number of poems by her sister & mother. Her poem ‘The Superintendent’ pays homage to nursing volunteers overseas, while two others (‘Prayer for Canada’ & ‘The Dream Fleet’) extrapolate on the war experience. Yapp edges chipped with pieces out at lower front & upper rear tips. 45.00 [see pdf] 12. Isabella B. Watson: War Time Poems and Heart Songs (1918: William Briggs, Toronto). [128pp, guarded frontis]: [iv], 124 (first two leaves blank); gilt deep green cloth, unprinted jacket; 194 × 133 × 17 mm. Virtually pristine (save for one tiny spot of discolouration to cloth at lower tip rear); in the extremely scarce hand-trimmed unprinted jacket (not shown), bearing two short tears. 125.00 [see pdf]
