Description
The first edition of The Inside of Prohibition by the former Assistant Attorney General, Mabel Walker Willebrandt.
Octavo, [iv], [8], 347pp, [2]. Green cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. Stated “first edition” on the copyright page. Faint dust along top edge of text block, internally clean. In the publisher’s near fine dust jacket, $2.00 on front flap, short closed tear along front hinge, faint soiling to spine, a bright example.
Mabel Willebrandt (1889-1963) was the Assistant Attorney General from 1921 to 1929, the highest-ranking woman in the federal government during that time. Known as “the Prohibition Portia,” she was responsible for enforcing the Volstead Act during the Prohibition era. During the 1928 presidential election, Willebrandt organized several high-profile raids of speakeasies, all to benefit the election prospects of Hoover. The press noted that “no other woman has ever had so much influence on a presidential campaign.” Willebrandt expected to be named Attorney General for her loyalty to President Hoover, but she was passed over and soon resigned.
