Elizabeth Frazer

First edition, in the rare original dust jacket, of this Jazz-Age introduction to investing, "told by a woman for others of her sex," by Elizabeth Frazer.

• Elizabeth Frazer (English).
• New York: George H. Doran Company, (1926).
• VIII, [4], 13-194 pages.
• Green cloth-backed light green paper boards, front board stamped in blind, gilt-stamped spine. In original unclipped (flaps blank) typographic dust jacket with text in red; early printed paper jacket protector.

"What every woman ought to know about investments"

"More and more, women are taking an active interest in the management of their moneys and estates; many have revealed extraordinary business acumen and shrewd insight in their market transactions with stocks and bonds," the preface notes. But these women aren't Frazer's audience: "the vast majority of women, unversed in business ways [...] still lean heavily on husbands, fathers, brothers, [and] male friends."

This book collects and expands upon articles first published by Frazer in the Saturday Evening Post, treating a variety of basic principles of investing: diversification and risk, the strengths and weakness of various types of securities, the mechanics of the stock market, and more. Each topic is presented in narrative as a dialogue between a financial advisor and her clients — all women — rather than as lessons in a textbook. However, this copy may well have been used as a textbook; tucked into the leaves is a circa 1930s report card from one Hilda A. Gier at Utica Free Academy, formerly a high school in New York. Further, the "adjustable book cover" added to this copy (which has kept the scarce jacket so well intact) suggests school use.

A handbook for women's financial autonomy amidst the flush of stock market boom of the pre-Crash '20s.