1841 FRIEND OF VIRTUE. Rare Early Anti-Prostitution & Human Trafficking Periodical. Moral Reform Society.

A very fine sammelband of early and mid-19th century imprints, prominent among which are 16 issues of The Friend of Virtue paper [later, sans The] the organ of the New England Female Reform Society. The paper not only warns against vice, against habits that could make one liable to be taken and turned into the practice of prostitution, but also advocates against male predatory behavior, etc., On the whole, it takes a sympathetic view toward the women and sees them as victims of circumstance, society, and of men's moral degradation. Controversial at the time for what were at times described as "lurid" or "scandalous" accounts, the editors presumably thought these details necessary to make clear the violence and horror of the situation. 

The work was also a vehicle for early suffrage and women's rights themes, as well as the often conjoined cause of the abolition of slavery. 

The binding includes:

The Friend of Virtue. 1841. Vol. 4. No's. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7. Dow & Jackson's Power Press. 

Contents include: Letter to Parents by Charles Grandison Finney [C. G. Finney], 3.5pp; The Importance of Prayer for Children; Constitution and Pledges of the Marlboro Female Moral Reform Society; Maternal Influence; Practical Love to Christ by Edward Norris Kirk; Nutritive Properties of Various Kinds of Food; Breaking the Chains of Licentiousness; The Practical Love of Christ; Females of Bad Character; Advantage of Moral Reform Societies; Seduction; On the Death of Young Ladies [through immoderate and immodest dress]; plus many first-hand accounts of work with prostitutes, women who have been abused or abandoned, etc. 

Friend of Virtue. 1846. Vol. 9. No's 13, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24. Dow & Jackson's Power Press. 

Contents include: On the Path from Poverty to Licentiousness; On Sympathy for the Fallen and Prostitutes; Duties and Sacred Obligations of the Marriage Covenant; The Repentance of the Unchaste Woman; Extracts from the Report of Rev. William Collier in 1821 and 1822 [Female Moral Reform]; Beware of Traveling Alone; Bartimeus L. Puaaki the Blind Native Preacher of Wailuku of the Sandwich Islands [Hawaii]; Poor Pauline - A Touching Tale of Truth by John Greenleaf Whittier; On the Contradiction of Slaveholding Christianity Sending Missionaries to the Heathen; The Origin of Licentiousness in the Heart; To Zion's Daughters; A Word to Young Men and Young Women; Why do not Parents Govern their Children!; The Morals of Children; The Pernicious Tendency of Light Reading; Fatal Trust; How do we Feel Towards Our Domestics - How do we Treat Them?; Retribution - Or the Death of Joe Smith [Joseph Smith - Latter Day Saints - Mormonism]; Deeds of Darkness by John Blain; Morals in Boston; O Absalom My Son My Son!; Abominations of the Theatre; Moral Reform among Sailors; etc. 

Friend of Virtue. 1847 Vol. 10. No's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. Dow & Jackson's Power Press.

Contents include: To Christian Young Ladies; Speak Gently to the Erring; A Victim of Novel Reading; Old England's Laboring Poor; Advantages of the Temporary Home for Women; The Training of Children; Sister King's Farewell to Sister Emerson; Association Institution for Enforcing and Improving the Laws for the Protection of Women; What Shall be done for the Female Strangers in Our Midst; Subterranean Life in New York; Impurity among Christians; The Ruined Son - A Tale of Truth for Parents; One Reason Why so many Young Ladies Fall; The Immoralities of the Day; The Voice of Industry; The Folly of Sin; Speak a Word to the Stranger Seaman; The Evils Suffered by American Women and American Children. Miss C. E. Beecher; The Prodigal Returned; Fashion; Efforts to Ensnare the Virtuous; A Case of Intemperance; The Training of Girls; A Chapter for Husbands; The Conversion of Children; Teaching Children and Youth - Woman's Appropriate Work; A Voice from the Country; The Virginia Tragedy - French Romances; The Fatal Malestrom for Young Men; The Influence of Fathers; A Thrilling Incident; Extent of Licentiousness; Another Picture in High Life; The Ruined Family; A Paltry Price for what is Priceless; Playing Peek-a-Boo with Angels; etc., etc.

BOUND WITH:

Butler, James Davie. A Farewell Discourse Delivered before the Second Congregational Church and Society. Salem. Printed at the Observer Office. 1852. 23pp.

BOUND WITH:

Shepardson, Rev. D. The Home Mission Field - Its Speedy and Perfect Cultivation Urged. A Discourse in Behalf of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, Preached at the Anniversary, in Troy, May, 1853. New York. Published by Vote of the Board for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. 1853. 26pp.

BOUND WITH:

Stow, Baron. A Tribute of Respect to the Memory of the Rev. Daniel Sharp. Boston. Gould and Lincoln. 1853. 28pp.

BOUND WITH:

Dana, Daniel. A Farewell Sermon Addressed to the First Presbyterian Church and Society in Newburyport, November 19, 1820. Newburyport. Printed by W. & J. Gilman. 1820. 

BOUND WITH:

Spring, Gardiner. A Tribute to the Memory of the Late Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Delivered and Published at the Request of the Executive Committee of the Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society of New York and Brooklyn. New York. Sleight and Robinson. 1831. 32pp

BOUND WITH:

Ware, Henry [Jr.] The Personality of the Deity. A Sermon, Preached in the Chapel of Harvard University, September 23, 1838. Boston. James Munroe and Company. 1838. 24pp.

BOUND WITH:

Sermons from the American National Preacher of 1835 and 1836 by Nathan Perkins; James Richards; Baxter Dickinson; Charles Walker; George C. Beckwith; D. L. Carroll; Seth Williston; John H. Agnew; Samuel Miller; William C. Brownlee; William Adams; Rufus W. Bailey; Daniel A. Clark; James Milnor; D. Van Vokenbergh; Enoch Pond; Nathaniel Emmons; Leonard E. Lathrop; Gardiner Spring; S. L. Pomroy; Nathan S. S. Beman; etc. 

A good + copy, bound in half leather, generally solid, with moderate foxing, some toning, and minor closed tears. Stained as shown.