One of Marxism’s greatest works, this is the full 500+ page version of Bebel’s visionary ‘Woman and Socialism’ first begun in 1879. Published in 1910 by the German Workers Clubs in America for their 50th Jubilee, this is the first US version with an authorized translation, and by a woman; the labor activist and Marxist writer Meta L. Stern. There have been many versions of August Bebel’s groundbreaking book, including abbreviated texts, pirate translations, pamphlets, etc., but very few editions contain its full text. The original book was written while Bebel was in prison in 1879 under Bismark’s Anti-Socialist Laws and banned under those laws. Bebel added to and updated his work a number of times in the decades following. A 1903 translation and edition by Daniel De Leon was widely discussed in the US, though Stern’s translation would far supersede it when it arrived.

Woman and Socialism by August Bebel. Authorized translation by Meta L. Stern. Published by the Socialist Literature Company, New York. 1910.

Contents: Introduction, WOMAN IN THE PAST, I) The Position of Woman in Primeval Society, Chief Epochs of Primeval History, Family Forms, The Matriarchate, II) Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate, Rise of the Patriarchate, Traces of the Matriarchate in Greek Myths and Dramas, Legitimate Wives and Courtesans in Athens, Remnants of the Matriarchate in the Customs of Various Nations, Rise of the State & Dissolution of the Gens in Rome, III) Christianity, IV) Woman in the Mediaeval Age, The Position of Woman Among the Germans, Feudalism and the Right of the First Night, The Rise of Cities – Monastic Affairs – Prostitution, Knighthood and the Veneration of Women, V) The Reformation, Luther, Results of the Reformation, The Thirty Years’ War, VI) The Eighteenth Century, Court Life in Germany, Commercialism and the New Marriage Laws, The French Revolution and the Rise of Industry, WOMAN AT THE PRESENT DAY, VII) Woman as a Sex Being, The Sexual Impulse, Celibacy and the Frequency of Suicide, VIII) Modern Marriage, Marriage as a Profession, Decline of the Birthrate, Mercenary Marriage and the Matrimonial Market, IX) Disruption of the Family, Increase of Divorce, Bourgeois and Proletarian Marriage, X) Marriage as a Means of Support, Decline of the Marriage Rate, Infanticide and Abortion, Education for Marriage, The Misery of Present Day Marriages, XI) The Chances of Matrimony, The Numerical Proportion of the Sexes, Obstacles to Marriage The Excess of Women, XII) Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution of Bourgeois Society, Prostitution and Society, Prostitution and the State, The White Slave Trade, The Increase of Prostitution Illegitimate Motherhood, Crimes Against Morality and Sexual Diseases, XIII) Woman in Industry, Development and Extension of Female Labor, Factory Work of Married Women Sweatshop Labor and Dangerous Occupations, XIV) The Struggle of Woman for Education, The Revolution in Domestic Life, The Intellectual Abilities of Women, Differences in Physical and Mental Qualities of Man and Woman, Darwinism and the Condition of Society, Woman and the Learned Professions, XV) The Legal Status of Women, The Struggle for Equality Before the Law, The Struggle for Political Equality, STATE AND SOCIETY, XVI) The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat, Our Public Life, Aggravation of Social Extremes, XVII) The Process of Concentration in Capitalistic Industry, The Displacement of Agriculture by Industry, Increasing Pauperization Preponderance of Large Industrial Establishments, Concentration of Wealth, XVIII) Crises and Competition, Causes and Effects of the Crises, Intermediate Trade and the Increased Cost of Living, XIX) The Revolution in Agriculture, Transatlantic Competition and Desertion of the Country, Peasants and Great Landowners, The Contrast Between City and Country, THE SOCIALIZATION OF SOCIETY, XX) The Social Revolution, The Transformation of Society, Expropriation of the Expropriators, XXI) Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society, Duty to Work of All Able-bodied Persons, Harmony of Interests, Organization of Labor, The Growth of the Productivity of Labor, Removal of the Contrast Between Mental and Manual Work, Increase of Consumption, Equal Duty to Work for All, Abolition of Trade Transformation of Traffic, XXII) Socialism and Agriculture, Abolition of the Private Ownership of Land, The Amelioration of Land, Changed Methods of Farming, Agriculture on a Large and Small Scale Electric Appliances, Vine Culture of the Future, Measures to Prevent Exhaustion of the Soil, Removal of the Contrast Between City and Country, XXIII) Abolition of the State, XXIV) The Future of Religion, XXV) The Socialist System of Education, XXVI) Literature and Art its Socialistic Society, XXVII) Free Development of Individuality, Freedom From Care, Changes in the Methods of Nutrition, The Communistic Kitchen, Transformation of Domestic Life, XXVIII) Woman in the Future, XXIX) Internationality, XXX) The Question of Population and Socialism, Fear of Overpopulation, Production of Overpopulation, Poverty and Fecundity, Lack of Human Beings and Abundance of Food, Social Conditions and Reproductive Ability, Conclusion. 512 pages.

PDF of 1910 book: https://archive.org/download/womansocialism00bebe/womansocialism00bebe.pdf