Sensationalized Depictions of Lesbianism and Institutional Violence Female Convict First Edition 1934

Vincent Burns

First Edition

Burns, Vincent. Female Convict, 1934, examines women’s incarceration in the United States through a sensationalized narrative centered on sexuality, authority, and institutional abuse, contributing to early literary portrayals of lesbianism within carceral settings. Written by a co-author of I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang, the work extends public fascination with prison conditions into women’s facilities, foregrounding themes of drug use, coercion, and same-sex relationships. The book supports research into the intersection of gender, sexuality, and punishment in early 20th-century American literature, particularly within the development of lesbian pulp narratives and exploitative prison fiction.

Burns, Vincent. Female Convict. New York: Macaulay Company, 1934. First edition. Octavo. Bound in gray cloth with black lettering and issued with a second state dust jacket depicting a distressed woman gripping prison bars. The narrative presents a dramatized account of women’s prison life, emphasizing moral corruption and systemic brutality. Contemporary promotional language frames the work as an exposé of institutional conditions, describing American penitentiaries across regions as sites of extreme neglect and exploitation. The text’s treatment of lesbian relationships reflects both the sensationalism and the limited frameworks through which same-sex desire was represented in popular literature of the period.

Published during a period of heightened public attention to prison reform and penal conditions, the book aligns with broader 1930s cultural interest in incarceration narratives following the success of chain gang exposés. Its focus on women’s prisons expands this discourse to include gender-specific experiences, while its depiction of sexuality situates it within the early formation of lesbian pulp fiction prior to the postwar boom of the genre. Such material offers insight into how incarceration, gender deviance, and authority were constructed in Depression-era popular culture. Dust jacket inner flaps affixed to endpapers, suggesting former lending library use; jacket exhibits tearing and wear with partial loss to flaps, though the front panel remains intact; cloth binding stable with light wear; overall very good. A notable early example of prison literature engaging themes of lesbianism and institutional critique.

Item #19173

Price: $580.00