SHE-MALE: The Sex-Reversal True Story of Coccinelle

New York: Epic Publishing Co., Inc, 1963. First printing. Near fine in very good jacket.. Scarce first edition of this semi-plagiarized, semi-pirated biography of Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (1931-2006), one of the earliest transgender women to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Performing under the stage name Coccinelle, Dufresnoy worked as a cabaret singer and founded the organization "Devenir Femme" to lobby and provide support for transgender people in her native France. Her 1962 marriage marked the first time a transgender person was legally permitted to marry in France. SHE-MALE details Coccinelle's story through her surgery, and it is heavily based on (indeed in places clearly plagiarized from) the 1962 English translation (REVERSE SEX) of Dufresnoy's husband's memoir COCCINELLE EST LUI. Despite these origins and its rather sensationalist presentation, SHE-MALE is a serious engagement with its subject. Scarce: we trace only two copies at auction or in commerce and only about a dozen scattered holdings in OCLC. 7.75'' x 5.25''. Original red boards. In original unclipped ($5.00) color photographic jacket. 192 pages, plus two black-and-white photo insert sections. Bit of chipping and a couple of old tape repairs to jacket. "5.00" price written on front panel. Book with touches of shelfwear. Else sound.