THE UNWELCOME MRS. HATCH [Emily Murphy's Copy w/ Manuscript Review].

New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903.. First Edition (& 1st printing). Octavo, publisher's original brown cloth stamped in white and gilt, top edges gilt. 191 pp, decorative title page. The correct first printing with code (1) at end of final leaf of text. Emily Murphy's copy with her signature on the front free endpaper "Emily F. Murphy / Toronto / Aug. 1903". A small portrait & biography of the author has been affixed below this. There is a 1¼ page manuscript review of the book at the rear - on the verso of the rear free endpaper and on the rear paste-down; all in Emily Murphy's hand. Binding rubbed and slightly leaned; a very good, sound copy.

¶ Emily Murphy (1868 - 1933) was a Canadian women's rights activist. In 1910, she was the first woman appointed to the board of Edmonton Hospital. In 1916, she became the first woman magistrate in Canada, and in the British Empire. She was also appointed as Judge of the Juvenile Court of Edmonton, hence is sometimes referred to as Judge Murphy. She is best known for her contributions to Canadian feminism, specifically to the question of whether women were "persons" under Canadian law. Victory in this important legal case resulted in women being eligible to stand for election as well as confirming her own right to serve on the bench. She campaigned for the 1917 Dower Act, which established that a wife has a legal entitlement to one-third of her husband's estate. From 1913 to 1920, she was President of the Canadian Women's Press Club. She is honored with a statue on Parliament Hill, Ottawa.