CONDITIONS.

£2,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington

Conditions: Issues 1-17. First editions, a rare complete run of this "important periodical in the history of feminist and African American print culture" (Enszer, p. 161). Published biannually from 1976 to 1980 and annually from 1980 to 1990, Conditions was a groundbreaking initiative, providing crucial space for the experiences of lesbians, connecting authors, and establishing national networks through its readership.Six of the volumes have the ownership inscription of contemporary reader Judith DeMaris Davis Hearne. Volumes 2 and 4 have annotations by her, including extensive thoughtful notes in the margin of an interview with Adrienne Rich. In five instances, Hearne has included the date of her purchase, and in four cases the name of the bookshop, offering a contemporary map of Conditions's outreach. These include Lammas Women's Books & More, a key lesbian and feminist bookstore in Washington DC, and three notable New York bookshops: Djuna Books, Womanbooks, and Oscar Wilde Memorial Books, all of which championed LGTBQ+ and feminist writings.Conditions addressed topics such as international solidarity, anti-imperialism, AIDS, poverty, racism, and political action, through fiction, poetry, essays, and book and art reviews. The magazine was praised for its focus on culturally marginalised women in its commissions and editorial board from the first issue, which featured work by Black and Puerto Rican women and published poetry in the original Spanish alongside an English tran

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