An original scrapbook compiled by a follower of Nancy Astor, the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat in the United Kingdom. Materials within dated 1934-1936.
Newspaper clippings, posters, and other campaign promotional items laid in or pasted down on the first [90] pp., except for on a few blank pages. The remaining pages of the scrapbook are blank. Some of the items are in color and many of the newspaper clippings include photographs. Also with a separate photograph (3” by 4 ”) of Nancy Astor on a dock laid in between pages 2 and 3. Quarto (6 inches by 7 inches). [ 180 ] pp. Item #16708
Nancy Witcher Astor (1879-1964) was born in Danville, Virginia, but moved to England with her husband Waldorf Astor at the age of twenty-six. In 1919, Nancy Astor became the first woman in the United Kingdom to take her seat as a Member of Parliament. The materials in the present item chronicle Astor’s successful campaign in the general election of 1935 and offer context into the social and political climate of the United Kingdom at the time. Many of the campaign materials included here are targeted towards women, especially mothers, and portray Astor as a hero for educational reform (pp. [20-21]) and a “champion of the nursery” (p. [16]). The materials also offer insight into the Conservative Party’s rhetoric against socialism, especially in regard to economic improvement since the Conservative Party regained control of the House of Commons from the Labor Party in 1931. One flyer reads: “The Socialist Party’s policy means dumping, depression, disaster,” (p. [8]). Overall, this scrapbook is a fascinating perspective on the public face of Nancy Astor and contemporary attitudes toward her and her campaign.
Price: $1,750.00