Over the last 10 years or so, I've gotten myself on numerous mailing lists for rare book dealers. I'm not sure how or why this happens but I suspect it's a combination of two things: I like rare books and I'm bad with money. So when rare book dealer Between the Covers Rare Books sent me their latest catalog that focuses on women, I felt the items contained within were worth sharing with you all to celebrate the end of Women's History Month and help you part with thousands of your hard-earned dollars on some absolutely kick-ass rare stuff.
Please note that the items in the catalog are current as of Thursday, March 27, 2025, when the catalog arrived in my inbox, and may not be available at the time you go to purchase.
Mary Russell: WAC Letters and Photographs, 1943-1945
Listed at $950
This treasure trove of personal correspondence, news clippings, photographs, and documents from Women's Army Corps (WAC) Sergeant Mary Russell is described as "modest but interesting" by the catalog's curators, but I think it's pretty awesome. This collection of highly individualized records shine a light not only into Sgt. Russell's time with the WAC, but also into life in the military during this uncertain war. The correspondence, mostly with her family in Chicago, details her time in basic training ("I must admit that it hasn’t been as tough as I expected it to be. I thought they’re [sic] have us out on all day hikes and that sort of thing.”), her training as a lab tech at WAC Detention Station Camp Kilmer in New Jersey, and her work with the Army nurse division at a hospital ("another autopsy one day last week”). It brings tears to your eyes when you see that after she achieved the rank of sergeant, the stationery of the letters changed – her family gifted her stationery with her new title on it.
The Most Enthralling, Amazing, Gigantic Spectacle in the Wide World Cobina Wright's Society Circus Ball (art and presumably design by Jefferson Machamer), 1925?
Listed at $1,200
I'm a big collector of vintage paper (posters, maps, brochures, etc), so this one really speaks to me, although the price is saying something else. There's so much going on with this poster for a charity event held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City that I don't know what to point out first.
It's held by Cobina Wright, an actress and singer of note who went on to become a socialite and columnist (her daughter appeared in several 20th Century Fox pictures, including Moon Over Miami with Don Ameche in 1941). The caricature shares Wright's apple cheeks and he upturned corners of the lips, so it's probably of Wright herself. There are multiple celebs dancing the night away, including Fanny Brice and George Jessel! There are contortionists and acrobats! There's an elephant! There's a fashion show! There's something called 'Lesmo' that's looking for a mate! There's all-you-can-eat supper! WHY CAN'T WE GO BACK IN TIME TO GO TO THIS???
Quarter Plate Portrait of a Woman with Gold Nugget Jewelry, circa 1850
Listed at $750
One of the coolest things about these catalogs is that you can learn so much just by reading the description for something that you thought might be kind of insignificant. On the surface, this is a daguerreotype of a casually dressed woman leaning against a prop. A small thing, it's less than 4 inches square. It's the jewelry that steals the show though. The photographer has tinted all of it gold, the earrings, the pendant, the brooch, the watch that she's dangling. The description points out that after the Gold Rush of 1849, gold nugget jewelry became very fashionable and that people wanted to doubly emphasize how much of it they had. How do you do this? Tint your photos and show you've got more gold than Mr. T!
Portrait of a Young Woman by Sylvia Plath, 1948 or 1949
Listed at $135,000
These catalogs can include some really really high-end items, like this honest-to-God painting done in school by 16-year-old Sylvia Plath. The poet and author of such works as The Bell Jar was also an accomplished painter, continuing to create pieces in parallel to her written works. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, even held a showing of her works in 2017. This one was done while Plath was at school in Massachusetts, then sold by her mother, Aurelia. The stamps on the front and back say "ESTATE SYLVIA PLATH," and were placed by Aurelia, who sold Plath's possessions to make money, as Plath's husband Ted Hughes controlled her estate after her tragic suicide.
Girl Gangs by William Allan Brooks, 1952
Listed at $300
Girls on CITY STREETS? In MY city? MY streets? I'm as outraged as you are, reader, to find out that right at this moment there might be Juvenile Crimes happening on city streets just like mine. According to the description, this also addresses the unspeakable sin of truancy. I do like how well put-together the model on the cover is, with nicely done hair, a nice dress, and a fabulous oversize trench coat that probably costs a month of my salary nowadays. But add a cigarette and a beige beret? JUVENILE CRIMES.
Karen Blixen’s Letters to Eugene Walter, 1956-62
Listed at $38,000
Karen Blixen might not be a name you recognize, but you might be able to place her pen name, Isak Dinesen. Under that sobriquet, she wrote the stories that would be made into the Academy Award-winning films Out of Africa and Babette's Feast, the former winning the Best Picture Oscar in 1986. This cache of 18 "lively and revealing" letters to literary journal editor Eugene Walter walk between the two worlds of Blixen's professional and personal life, with Blixen discussing publications and the process of an interview with Walter (Blixen's handwritten notes on the interview are included) but also her life in Denmark, her upcoming vacation plans, and her failing health. The package also includes multiple letters from Blixen's personal secretary Clara Svendsen, several signature cards, and pieces of art, notably three drawings of Blixen by Michael Batterberry that were made during the interview with Walter. While well out of my price range, this caught my eye as I just watched Babette's Feast a few months ago – it won the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1987.
Up To Date Hair Bobbing Poster - 1921
Listed at $2,000
If I had half the confidence these women have in this picture, I'd never struggle with a job interview again. Look at that swagger! The bobs are here and they are here to stay, friend. Now let's go to a bar and cause trouble. Seriously though, this is a poster that came along at the right time: right before bobs became the hairstyle for flappers in the 1920s. It's still so new and so fashion-forward that the poster has to list off disclaimers. Bobbing is sanitary! It strengthens the hair! The poster is 16" x 22", so pretty eye-catching and large. If you own a salon and can part with $2,000, this would be a crazy cool piece to have framed and on your wall. It works even better if you can replicate these cuts.
Rare Unseen Super 8 Film Footage of Helen Mirren and Others at Britain’s Most Glamorous Commune, circa 1972-75
Listed at $15,000
Did you know that Dame Helen Mirren spent her late 20s living on a hippie commune in Bath? I sure didn't, until I saw these items up for sale that include 24 film reels, color slides, and a menu from the commune's restaurant, named Parsenn Sally. Mirren appears in about 30 minutes of footage, as she was hanging with the commune in the late '70s while starring in a production of Macbeth nearby.
You get a lot of Mirren "who is seen rolling and smoking joints, dancing and conducting improvised masquerade performances, farming, riding a motorcycle in the garden, out with friends at a county fair and circus, and spending playful and sometimes clothing optional moments with [her boyfriend at the time, Russian prince George] Galitzine." One 10-minute reel is Mirren's 28th birthday, where she wears a coat hanger on her head and travels by tractor to a flower show. Other notables featured in the films are Beatles photographer Bob Whittaker, French model and singer Amanda Lear, Hello! magazine editor (and famed lion owner) John Rendall, and musician Sam Gopal.
Aunt Evie Conjuring Stick and Crayon Portrait - circa 1900
Listed at $3,500
I really did save the best for last, and I'll let the Between the Covers catalog describe it: "A handmade walking stick owned by Aunt Evie, an African-American women [sic] who lived in Edgefield County in South Carolina at the turn of the 20th Century and was alleged by local residents to be a Conjure Woman." As West African religion merged with Christianity during transatlantic slavery, Conjure Men and Conjure Women bridged the spirit realm with the living realm for "injuring or destroying enemies, … getting jobs, dodging the law, protecting property … producing fertility, promoting crops, controlling weather … and locating lost and stolen goods, water, and buried treasure.” The fact that this walking stick has survived over 100 years and that a portrait of the owner survives is beyond remarkable. This is the kind of thing that a local historical society should be interested in, so if you live in Edgefield County, South Carolina, and have $3,500 you're looking to divest yourself of, pick it up and make a donation!
