First edition of this early feminist history and polemic, emphasizing the contributions and capabilities of women throughout history - seven years before Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women. De Coicy discusses such women as Heloise, Catherine de Medici, and Aurelia, and concludes by proposing a chivalric order for women whose husbands have been awarded chivalric honours. De Coicy, born Marie Jeanne Marguerite Devérité (1746-1841), is a prominent example of the group of women advocating for the rights of women, as well as those of men, in late 18th-century France. Les femmes comme il convient de les voir combines the Enlightenment enthusiasm for universal histories with an increasing body of evidence as to the contributions of great women. Her work thus subverts the typically masculine focus of previous universal histories and emphasizes the ability of women to contribute to public life. Notably, de Coicy contrasts the subservient women of the middle and upper classes with the greater equality and agency of working-class women within the household. ESTC N47481. Two volumes bound in 1, duodecimo (139 x 82 mm). Contemporary marbled calf, smooth spine ruled and decorated in gilt, and with red morocco label, covers with triple-rule panelling in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled red and brown. Woodcut ornament to title pages, head- and tailpieces. Light bumping and wear, loss to upper spine end, minor browning and foxing to endpapers and contents, closed tear to front free endpaper neatly repaired: a very good copy.
