The Hand That Cradles the Rock
Baltimore: Diana Press, 1974. Reprint Edition. 12mo, publisher’s stiff paper wraps, original illustrated dust jacket.
Early reprint edition of renowned queer activist and author Rita Mae Brown’s first poetry collection. Originally published in 1971, shortly before the appearance of her coming-out bildungsroman Rubyfruit Jungle (1973), the collection contains poems outwardly engaging with lesbian love and the women’s movement. Brown was a key figure in the early women’s movement and founding member of the lesbian-separative community the Furies Collective, and was one of the earliest openly LGBTQ authors to achieve mainstream success. Illustrated with black-and-white drawings by Ginger Legato. This edition, the first with Legato's illustrations, was issued by women’s print shop and feminist publisher Diana Press. Spine lightly toned; unclipped dust jacket with some toning and soiling. Very good. Item #7870
$45.00