THE REVOLT AGAINST CIVILIZATION: The Menace of the Under Man; [an interesting inscribed association copy demonstrating the horrifying early relationship between the reproductive rights and eugenics movements].
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922. First edition. INSCRIBED BY STODDARD on the front free endpaper, “TO MAXINE DAVIS/ my charming hostess -/. Lothrop Stoddard.” Stoddard (1883 - 1950) was a prominent American eugenicist, racial theorist, and "scientific" racist who used his status as a Harvard-educated historian to become a leading "intellectual" voice for white supremacy. THE REVOLT AGAINST CIVILIZATION is considered a foundational text of early 20th-century "scientific" racism and eugenics. Notably, Stoddard’s coinage of the term "Under-Man" to describe those he deemed biologically incapable of maintaining civilization was translated as "Untermensch" for use by Nazi theorists of the time. Maxine Davis (1900 - 1978) was a prominent Washington D.C. journalist and social commentator who eventually became a pioneering advocate for women's reproductive health. She is perhaps best known for her landmark work, THE SEXUAL RESPONSIBILITY OF WOMAN (1956). Although the inscription is undated, it seems likely that it was within a few years of publication. Stoddard served on the board of the American Birth Control League (ABCL) and was a featured speaker at the 1925 international Birth Control Conference in New York organized by Margaret Sanger -- the controversial founder of ABCL and, later, Planned Parenthood -- where he delivered a paper titled "The Racial Responsibility of Birth Control." (Sanger was known to have employed eugenic rhetoric in an effort to form a strategic alliance, arguing that birth control could improve the "national stock" by reducing the birth rate of the poor or marginalized.) In a time when "racial hygiene" and reproductive rights were often conflated, Davis used her platform to explain and normalize birth control, viewing it as a medical development that would enhance women's sexual satisfaction and reproductive health. Stoddard’s inscription to Davis, identifying her as his hostess, would seem to further HIGHLIGHT THE DISTURBING EARLY INTERSECTION BETWEEN THE EUGENICS AND BIRTH CONTROL MOVEMENTS. 8vo gray cloth boards lettered in red on front and spine; red hammer-and-sickle design on front; 274 pages including index. About very good with covers lightly rubbed, spine slightly dulled, nick and bump to lower front corner, pages age tanned, and endpapers lightly foxed. Bookplate of Maxine Davis and old penciled price dated “5/22” on front pastedown and small bookseller ticket of Brentano’s in Washington DC at rear.
Item #72738
Price: $1,500.00