author
George J. Manson
Best remembered for a practical 1883 guide to women’s employment, this little-known writer focused on real jobs, real skills, and the question of how women could earn a living with more independence. His work feels especially interesting today because it captures a moment when new opportunities for women were starting to open up.
1 Audiobook
Work for Women
by George J. Manson
About the author
George J. Manson is a relatively obscure nineteenth-century author whose surviving reputation rests mainly on Work for Women, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1883. In the book’s preface, he explains that it grew out of a series of articles he wrote in the winter of 1882–83 for the Christian Union.
That book set out to answer practical questions for women considering paid work: what kinds of jobs were available, how hard they were to enter, how much skill they required, and what women might expect to earn. Rather than writing in abstract terms, he framed the subject as a useful handbook, covering occupations such as industrial designing, shorthand writing, telegraphy, photography, nursing, and other trades and professions.
Beyond Work for Women, George J. Manson is also associated in library and bookselling records with titles including Smoking: A World of Curious Facts, Queer Fancies, and Lively Anecdotes About Pipes, Tobacco and Cigars. Reliable biographical details about his life are scarce, so the clearest picture we have is through his books: a writer interested in practical information, popular nonfiction, and the changing world of everyday work.