SKETCH OF AMELIA BLOOMER, NINETEENTH CENTURY FEMINIST AND FRIEND OF SUSAN B. ANTHONY, IS ONE OF FIRST WORKS DEPICTING FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S EQUALITY

AMELIA BLOOMER (1819-1894). Bloomer was a public speaker, lecturer, reformer, and founder and editor of a woman’s newspaper, The Lily. She also introduced Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Drawing. 1pg. 1851. N.p. A cartoon drawing depicting Amelia Bloomer, the famous Nineteenth Century feminist. The cartoon shows Bloomer making a toast with a drink in one hand and a pipe in the other. Three older women, two of whom are drinking and smoking (and one is blowing smoke at Bloomer), sit at the table around her. The caption by the artist reads: “Bloomerism established!  The B------s triumphant!  There is one toast, ladies we must not omit on this interesting occasion for altho' we have achieved a triumph, & woman henceforward shall reign supreme, I need scarcely say &c &c (here an interval of 1 hour & 59 mins was occupied in introducing the toast which was The Gentlemen”. This is an original pen and ink sketch, and one of the first to depict women fighting for the right to vote and social equality. Having women drinking and smoking in a cartoon was rare at the time. The cartoon was created just three years after the Seneca Falls Convention, which Bloomer attended, though she did not sign the Declaration of Sentiments and subsequent resolutions. Though she rarely wore them, the bloomers clothing item was named after her later this decade. The artist is listed as “G.H.H.”, which could possibly be George Henry Hall (1825-1913), though unlikely given that the drawing was found in London, and the American-born Hall was in Italy at this time. The drawing is mounted on white in a gold frame. All are in fine condition.  Most unusual suffrage content!