Description
“Ne pariez pas sur l’avenir, agissez maintenant, sans plus attendre. (Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.)”
— Simone de Beauvoir
Please note that our remaining inventory of this print consists of 12 numbered prints and 10 APs or “Artist Proofs.” We determine our edition number before printing, but we always print a few more broadsides than we think we’ll need for the edition, in case of mishaps during the process. When the edition is finished, any extra prints that survive outside of the edition are signed and labeled with “AP” in place of a number. Because we wait to sell the APs until the rest of the edition is sold out (so the remaining numbered prints will sell first), and because APs are otherwise identical in quality to the numbered prints, they are priced the same as our numbered prints.
This hand-pulled letterpress print is printed from hand-lettered original typography and hand-drawn illustrations (in fact, everything was done by hand, the hard way!). This piece was created in support of women who testify en masse to uncover and combat abuse, inequality, and the erosion of our civil rights.
Our 28th broadside, Liberté, Egalité, Sororité, is layered with meaning. To symbolize the sheer number of women it takes to come forward before our testimonies are taken seriously, every name from the Manifeste des 343 shines through Simone de Beauvoir’s translucent quote. These names are cut off by the edges of the paper, signifying the disbelief women face when testifying. In the center of the design is a trio of red tulips, referencing Margaret Atwood’s book The Handmaid’s Tale, which teems with floral metaphors of femininity, death and control.
To help fight the erosion of reproductive rights and protect Roe, we are donating a portion of our proceeds to Center for Reproductive Rights, via an Action Grant from the Dead Feminists Fund. The Center for Reproductive Rights uses the power of law to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world.
This poster was printed on an antique Vandercook Universal One press. Each piece is printed on archival, 100% rag (cotton) paper, and individually signed and numbered by both artists. This piece was printed in a limited edition; once the edition sells out, it will not be reprinted. So snag your copy while you can! In the meantime, you can learn more about this broadside and the story behind it on our blog.
Edition size: 173
Paper size: approximately 10 x 18 inches
Colophon reads:
Simone de Beauvoir (1908 – 1986) was born to a bourgeois Parisian family who lost their fortune just after World War I. With upward mobility via marriage no longer an option, de Beauvoir focused on her education in order to earn an independent living. In 1928 she became the ninth woman to earn a degree from the Sorbonne, completing a thesis in philosophy. After an early teaching career (which ended once her relationships with underage female students came to light), de Beauvoir devoted her time to writing. Her numerous affairs with other writers also influenced her (and their) work, most notably her 51-year partnership with fellow existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. In her landmark 1949 book Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex), she declared, “One is not born but becomes a woman,” defining arbitrary societal gender constructs as the source of women’s oppression.
In 1971 de Beauvoir wrote and signed the Manifeste des 343, published in the French weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur. This petition of prominent women who underwent illegal abortions called for free access to contraception and the legalization of abortion. Despite attacks by the media—who dubbed the signers 343 salopes (sluts)—the document inspired 331 American doctors to publish a similar manifesto ahead of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. In 1975 France followed suit with the passage of the “Veil Law” which legalized abortion.
Illustrated by Chandler O’Leary and printed by Jessica Spring, honoring the brave women who come forward despite personal threats, testifying to secure and protect the rights of all. 173 copies were printed by hand at Springtide Press in Tacoma.
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This original artwork is copyright Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring 2018. Copyright is not transferable with the sale of this print. The buyer is not entitled to reproduction rights.
WA state residents are subject to sales tax.
The print is packaged in a clear poly sleeve and will ship flat in a protective mailer, via USPS Priority Mail.
