Hints on Self-Help

A determined campaigner for women's rights, Jessie Boucherett (1825-1905) helped to draft Britain's first female suffrage petition in 1866 and founded the Englishwoman's Review in the same year. Originally published in 1863 and reissued here in its 1866 printing, the present work is her call to arms for young women of all classes to pursue their independence through education and employment. Emphasising the risk of trusting in men to provide for women, she urges her readers to support themselves, first through education and then through remunerative work. She includes examples of the various trades open to women and examines the cases of women who have not only succeeded but excelled in their occupations. The appendices give details of institutions where women could receive training. Reflecting and refining the Victorian concern with self-improvement, this work remains relevant to social historians and readers interested in the women's movement.