1894 ALICE B. STOCKHAM. Young Womens Self-Liberation Manifesto in the Form of a Novel. Rare!

Co-authored by Dr. Alice Bunker Stockham and Lida Hood Talbot, Koradine: A Prophetic Story (1894) occupies a unique historical niche at the intersection of late nineteenth-century first-wave feminism, alternative medicine, and various radical esoteric philosophies.

Stockham, an obstetrician and the fifth woman in the United States to become a licensed physician, was a formidable figure in first-wave reform who used her medical background to champion female reproductive autonomy, dress reform, and physical health education. Talbot, a writer and educator, collaborated with Stockham to translate these dense political and spiritual concepts into an accessible, creative format. 

Framed as a coming-of-age novel, Koradine follows the titular protagonist through her development from childhood into young womanhood. Rather than presenting a typical Victorian domestic narrative, the story acts as an allegorical blueprint for raising the ideal modern woman. Through Koradine’s journey, the authors outline an alternative educational model that weaves together physical health, artistic expression, intellectual rigor, and spiritual development. Central to the book's narrative is the philosophy that women must cultivate absolute body sovereignty and self-knowledge before entering adulthood, marriage, or motherhood, framing female empowerment as both a civic responsibility and a spiritual imperative.

Koradine reflects the eclectic, often fringe intellectual landscape that surrounded radical first-wave feminism. Stockham is best remembered for her concept of Karezza, a practice of continent, non-orgasmic marital intercourse designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, deepen emotional intimacy, and spiritualize human sexuality. Koradine functions as a narrative delivery system for these radical notions, advocating for complete female control over sexual access within marriage and framing sexual energy as a vital creative force that should be transmuted into higher spiritual and intellectual pursuits rather than wasted or treated merely as a physical urge.

The work articulates emerging feminist demands for bodily autonomy with popular late Victorian alternative movements, including New Thought, Spiritualism, Eastern esoteric concepts, and vitalist health theories. For Stockham and Talbot, liberation was not merely a matter of securing the vote; it required a complete transformation of the female self through spiritual mastery, physical purity, and revolutionary approaches to sex and marriage. Consequently, Koradine stands as a revealing artifact of a historical moment when the fight for women's rights was deeply entangled with mystical, fringe, and utopian experiments in bodily and spiritual reform.

Not at auction since 1913 and no first edition example in the trade at the time of cataloging.

Stockham, Alic B. Author of Tokology; and Lida Hood Talbot. Koradine. A Prophetic Story. Chicago. Alice B. Stockham & Co. 1894. First edition [a second appeared in 1897]. 424pp.

Good - to fair example in original decorative cloth, some fraying and chips at extremities, small tear to top of spine as shown. Blank ffep lacking, both front and rear hinge through to mull and a bit shaken with title detached. Paper is moderately toned and contains perhaps half a dozen marginal tears throughout. Generally sound.