Marie Stopes and the History of Birth Control

This collection, funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Kaufman Footwear of Kitchener, Ont., consists of about 400 items published between 1906 and the 1980's related to the British birth control pioneer, Dr. Marie Stopes. A collection of archival material, the Marie Stopes archive, complements the book collection.

Included are first and scarce editions of Marie Stopes' writings on contraception, her early works in the fields of botany and geology, as well as much of her literary output. First and variant editions of her best-known books, Married Love, and Wise Parenthood, both published in 1918, are also present. The collection includes first editions of Stopes' first two published works, The Study of Plant Life for Young People (London, 1906), and Ancient Plants (London, 1910).

The collection contains an extensive selection of supporting materials about contraception and family planning by other authors. Highlights include Annie Besant's pamphlet, Law of Population (London: n.d.), early issues of the journal, Birth Control News, L. Darwin's What is Eugenics (1932), and W. J. Robinson's Fewer and Better Babies (New York: 1928).

Also present is a selection of biographical material about Marie Stopes, ranging from detailed accounts of her libel suit during the 1920's to a 1968 issue of Penthouse with an article entitled, "Women who Made Birth Control Respectable."

Special Collections

Marie Stopes and the History of Birth Control