FIRST EDITION, WOMAN AND LABOUR by Olive Schreiner, Published by T. Unwin, 1911, hardcover, half leather binding, 283 pages, Headquarters Reference Library copy (never lent out), usual stamps & block out to title page, otherwise condition: very good.
"Mrs. Schreiner shows that the unrest among women of to-day is due to an unsound basis of life, that for the first time in history a large proportion of women are facing a condition of parasitism, that this condition is likely to be fatal to the human race, and that it may be remedied. This, with numberless illuminating radiations of thought, is the significant thesis of the book. An unusual feature is that the argument is based not on the rights or happiness of women, but on the welfare of the race as a whole".
Olive Schreiner was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deals boldly with such contemporary issues as agnosticism, existential independence, individualism, the professional aspirations of women, and the elemental nature of life on the colonial frontier.
Since the late 20th century, scholars have also credited Schreiner as an advocate for the Afrikaners, and other South African groups who were excluded from political power for decades, such as indigenous blacks, Jews, and Indians. Although she showed interest in socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism, and feminism amongst other topics, her views escaped restrictive categorisations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values such as moderation, friendship, and understanding amongst all peoples, and avoid the pitfalls of political radicalism, which she consciously eschewed. Called a lifelong freethinker, she also continued to adhere to the spirit of the Christian Bible and developed a secular version of the worldview of her missionary parents, with mystical elements.
