Three Autograph Letters signed, to Maurice H. Richmond (President of the Oxford Union).

Fawcett (Millicent Garrett)

Three Autograph Letters signed, to Maurice H. Richmond (President of the Oxford Union).

Description: written in black ink on white paper headed to Hawse End (Keswick, the home of Catherine E. Marshall) and blue paper headed to Gower Street (London, the Fawcetts' residence), a few spots, the middle letter with note in red at head, pp. [2]; [2]; [2], foolscap 8vo, original horizontal folds, good condition

Publication Details: Keswick & London, October 16 & 25, November 3, 1908

Notes: A significant group of letters from one of the principal figures in the Women's Suffrage movement, in response to Richmond's invitation for her to address the Oxford Union, in the first accepting, then asking for clarification of the running order, and finally offering her draft resolution for the talk: 'That in the opinion of this House the time has come when the Government should be urged to remove the electoral disabilities of women'. Though not in themselves substantial, the letters represent an important historical moment: Fawcett was the first woman to address the Union in its 83-year h...moreA significant group of letters from one of the principal figures in the Women's Suffrage movement, in response to Richmond's invitation for her to address the Oxford Union, in the first accepting, then asking for clarification of the running order, and finally offering her draft resolution for the talk: 'That in the opinion of this House the time has come when the Government should be urged to remove the electoral disabilities of women'. Though not in themselves substantial, the letters represent an important historical moment: Fawcett was the first woman to address the Union in its 83-year history. In the event, within an all-male assembly, the motion was not carried (a further half decade would elapse before the Union would vote in favour), but the platform and the publicity it provided were strides forward.  HIDE

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