Black History

N.p.: N.p., n.y. [ca. 1861]. 8vo. Self-cover. Very good. Very slight soiling; minor binding traces. A rousing defense of slavery. The author's simple-minded response to the charge that "Slaveholding is in itself sinful, and therefore immediate and general emancipation is a duty"? "It is not true" -- and he defends slavery on Biblical grounds. This is the first grand mistake. Second grand mistake: "Slavery is the sole cause of our present national troubles." And the third: "The government has failed to suppress the rebellion, because it has not aimed at general emancipation." At the time this pamphlet was issued, quite early in the rebellion, only "several of the States have revolted and taken up arms against the government." The author's watery solution seems to be: Remember the Biblical precedent of slavery, forget emancipation and "we should doubtless now enjoy the smiles of Heaven." Not in Sabin. more information

New York: Tribune Office, n.y. [1856]. 8vo. Self-cover. 16pp. Map. Very good. Bit of mild wear and age toning, touch of foxing. Inflammatory anti-slavery pamphlet that quotes extensively from the "pretended Laws enacted by the bogus Territorial Legislature of Kansas... notoriously forced upon the people of that Territory... using the persuasive arguments of the Bowie-Knife and Revolver...." SABIN 6411. more information

Boston: John Wilson and Son, n.y. Small 4to. Self-cover. 12pp. Near fine. Slightest of soiling to outer wrappers. Bunch of nutmeggers draw Buchanan into a slavery debate. First edition, clean and attractive. SABIN 52997. more information

New York: British Information Services, n.y. [ca. 1939]. 8vo. Stiff green pictorial wrappers. 64pp. Map, numerous drawings. Very good. Historical overview of Britain's colonizing efforts. Rather biased, naturally. more information

New York: The New York Public Library, 1965. Small 4to. Stiff blue wrappers. 24pp. Very good. Ninth revised edition. Handy brief bibliography. more information

New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Small 4to. Black cloth, dust jacket. xvii, 638pp. Illustrations. Near fine/near fine. First edition, tight and handsome, of the Civil Rights leader's hefty memoir. more information

New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867. Small 4to. Original blind-embossed green cloth with spine gilt. xliv, 115pp. Very good. Tight, clean and sound first edition of this important collection, one of the first organized attempts to gather and study slave music. Very scarce, especially in tight attractive condition as is this example, whose spine gilt is bright and lovely. Pencilled 19th century ownership signature on front flyleaf -- but more recently from the collection of musicologist and conductor/director Paul Clinton Echols (1954-94). more information

Chicago: Illinois Bell Telephone, n.y. [ca. 1965]. Narrow 8vo. Wrappers. 20pp. Illustrations. Probable sole printing. Near fine. Unusual promotional piece from Ma Bell, part of a "Take Pride in the Promise of Illinois" series plugging "our enthusiasm for our state's future." Reknowned Illinois historian Angle conducts this lengthy interview with the noted Illinois poet laureate. Most unusual. more information

Chicago: The Chicago Historical Society, Summer 1951 (Volume II, Number 12). 12mo. Stiff tan pictorial wrappers. Pp. 353-384. Illustrations. Near fine. "Chicago History" issue, tight and handsome, the lead story (which fills most of the issue) being the heavily-illustrated "Uncle Tom's Cabin" story. more information

New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993. Small 4to. Red cloth spine and orange paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. 277pp. Very good/near fine. Erased ownership signature on front flyleaf. Tight 'n' nice first edition of this author's second book, inscribed and signed large and bold by the author in green fineline on the half-title page: "For Trecii, / Here's to all of / our ways! Here's to / us! / Love & Peace, / Tina McElroy Ansa / 9-24-93. more information

New Haven: T.G. Woodward and Co., 1825. Small 4to. Original printed green wrappers. 22pp. Good plus. A bit edgeworn, a tad soiled on outer wrappers, but overall tight and nice and largely uncut. First edition of the prolific pastor's first publication -- quite scarce. Bacon (1802-81) had just begun his 40+ year tenure as minister at New Haven's First Church -- his first gig -- when he gave this Independence Day address urging the repatriation of American slaves to Africa and the abolition of slavery in America. Not in Dumond. SABIN 26756 note. more information

University , AL: University of Alabama Press, 1965. 8vo. Blue cloth, price-clipped dust jacket. xi, 241pp. Frontispiece, tables. Near fine/near fine. First edition. Fascinating biography of the paradoxical abolitionist described as "..more dangerous than 1000 John Browns. more information

Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, 1964. Small 4to. Burgundy cloth. xii, 435pp. Illustrations. Very good. Second, revised edition, a tight and attractive copy. more information

With an editorial addendum "Twenty Years After" by William J. Petersen. Iowa City: The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969. 8vo. Stiff brown wrappers. 96pp. Tables. Fine. Probable first edition. more information

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1967. Small 4to. Grey cloth, dust jacket. viii, 176pp. Very good/near fine. First edition. more information

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1973. Small 4to. Blue cloth, dust jacket. xii, 350pp. Fine/near fine. A superb and tight first edition. more information

Boston: Beacon Press, 1969. 8vo. Pink (yes, pink!) cloth spine and black paper over boards, dust jacket. xix, 331pp. Good plus/good plus. Red remainder mark across top page edges; pink dust jacket (front and rear panels) quite nice, though pink background of spine quite faded, though black spine lettering still bold. Later printing of this noted collection, tight and decent -- ex-library, though with relatively few and mostly-removed markings. more information

Los Angeles: National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee, n.y. [ca. 1965]. 8vo. Stiff grey wrappers. 48pp. Illustrations. Near fine. Probable first (and sole) edition, tight and attractive. Interesting association copy, coming from the private library of noted social protest poet and fine press publisher JOHN BEECHER (1904-80), who was himself blacklisted from teaching by refusing to sign a state loyalty oath in California in 1950. more information

New York: Random House, 1998. Small 4to. Brown paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xvii, 282pp. Near fine/near fine. First edition of this tale of growing up in welfare poverty in Chicago, signed boldly in black marker by the noted journalist on the title page. more information

Prefaces by Don Lee and George Kent. Detroit: Broadside Press, 1972. 8vo. Blue cloth, gilt. 215pp. Very good. Illustrations. Tight and handsome first edition of the reknowned Illinois poet's memoir. From the library of noted Chicago photographer ARCHIE LIEBERMAN (1926-2008) of "Farm Boy" fame. Rather uncommon. more information

Westport, CT: Negro Universities Press, 1970. 8vo. Red cloth. 204pp. Frontispiece, illustrations. Near fine. Facsimile reprint. more information

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993. Small 4to. Black cloth, pictorial dust jacket. xv, 269pp. Frontispiece, illustrations. Near fine/near fine. Handsome first edition of this volume in editor William J. Cooper Jr.'s "Southern Biography Series." more information

New York: The Viking Press, 1971. 8vo. Blue cloth, pictorial dust jacket. 183pp. Very good/very good. Slight bit of jacket edgewear. A tight and nice first edition, boldly inscribed and signed by the author in blue ballpoint on the half-title page: "For Adair and Volney -- / On to the Seychelles! / Mary. more information

Introduction by John Edgar Wideman. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1994. Oblong small 8vo. Stiff glazed wrappers. 256pp. Illustrations (some color). Near fine. Tight, nice first paperback edition of this volume that the front wrapper subtitles "Portraits of Blacks Changing the Face of America," handsomely inscribed and signed by Caines in black fineline on the half-title page: "For Wendy -- / What a pleasure to have met you! / Thanks for making my time at / [?] enjoyable. / (It's always nice to meet people / who love their work!) / Thanks again -- / Best always and / Warm regards / Bruce Caines. more information

Philadelphia: Young, Printer, 1832. 8vo. Original yellow printed wrappers. iv, 32pp. Floor plan, 2 maps. Good plus. Text block clean and attractive; printed outer wrappers age toned, with a few edge chips -- not disfiguring and only slightly touching the decorative printed border. "Third edition, enlarged and improved," of this popular collection of ten letters written to Congressman Charles F. Mercer on the evils of slavery. Preceding the title page are two small maps, "Map of the Colony of Liberia on the West Coast of Africa" and "Plan of the Town of Monrovia," and opposite them is a provocative floor plan, "Section of a Slave Ship," showing the most space-saving way to pack slaves aboard seagoing vessels. DUMOND 35. SABIN 10870. more information

Introduction by Christopher Fyfe. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1962. Small 4to. Green cloth, pictorial dust jacket. xiv, 241pp. Three maps. Near fine/very good. First U.S. edition of this 1941 title. more information

New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. 8vo. Brown cloth. xvi, 493pp. Frontispiece. Near fine. Facsimile of the 1854 first edition; interesting pre-Civil War abolitionist biography. more information

New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1971. Small 4to. Brown cloth, dust jacket. xvi, 283pp. Illustrations. Very good/very good. Mild jacket edgewear. First edition, tight and decent -- but ex-library, with some markings. more information

Washington, DC: C. Alexander, 1856. Small 4to. Wrappers. 23pp. Very good. Bit of age toning to the front wrapper, and minor binding traces, else clean and attractive. Interesting speech from this Democratic senator (1853-61) giving his take on the Kansas Territory's attempts to achieve a constitution and statehood; largely, of course, a discussion of the slavery issue. First edition. Not in Dumond or Sabin. more information

New York: Amistad Press, 1992. Small 4to. Blue cloth spine and blue paper over boards, dust jacket. xv, 412pp. Illustrations. Near fine/near fine. First edition, tight and handsome, bearing the usual AUTOPEN inscription and signature on half-title page ("Still fighting for / our permanent interests / Bill") -- often misdescribed as authentic by booksellers who are not also dealers in historical autographs -- but this copy also bearing a huge authentic inscription and signature on front flyleaf: "To / Dick Westgate / from your nephew -- a / Special guy -- and / from me. / Bill Clay / 12/2/92. more information

New Foreword by Herman Hathaway. [Lawrence]: University Press of Kansas, 1987. 8vo. Black cloth, dust jacket. xviii, 342pp. Near fine/very good. Slightest bit of mild jacket rubbing. Tight, handsome second printing of this 1956 classic account. more information

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. Small 8vo. Stiff glazed pictorial wrappers. (8pp), 337pp. Very good. Very slightest bit of faint edgewear; bookshop name/address neatly inkstamped in red on onside front wrapper. Overall a tight, quite attractive first of this paperback edition of this 1956 classic account -- this copy boldly signed and inscribed by the author in black ballpoint on the title page: "For my old friend / Carl Shortino / with the best wishes of / Dudley T. Cornish. more information

Foreword by Senator Walter F. Mondale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 8vo. Black cloth, dust jacket. xviii, 187pp. Near fine/very good. Mildest bit of jacket edgewear. First edition -- tight, clean and attractive. "...Cottle records the daily lives of several black children and their families living in a northern city. more information

Illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias. Garden City: Garden City Publishing Co., n.y. 8vo. Black cloth. xxi, 376pp. Frontispiece, illustrations. Very good. Tight, attractive reprint. more information

Boston: Office of the Boston Post, 1857. Small 4to. Wrappers. 48pp. Very good. Mild age toning. The noted statesman (1800-79), who at this time had just completed a term as U.S. attorney general and joined the Massachhusetts legislature, discusses his temperate antislavery views. First edition. Sabin 18095 note. more information

With Steve Fiffer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991. Small 4to. Black cloth spine and brown paper over boards, dust jacket. 353pp. Illustrations. Near fine/near fine. First edition, tight and handsome, bearing a fine inscription and signature from the author in blue fineline on the front flyleaf: "5/29/91 / For Ladi / With warmest / personal regards to / Steve's friend. Many / thanks for your help / Morris Dees. more information

With Steve Fiffer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991. Small 4to. Black cloth spine and brown paper over boards, dust jacket. 353pp. Illustrations. Near fine/near fine. First edition, tight and handsome, with a bookplate on the front flyleaf bearing the printed message "In Grateful Appreciation to Ms. Janine Biskind For Your Dedicated Support of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Fight Against Intolerance" and a blue FACSIMILE signature of Dees. These mass-produced plate are NOT authentically signed, though many sellers listing copies for sale are unaware of this. more information

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. Small 4to. Grey cloth and yellow paper over boards, dust jacket. xviii, 429pp. Map, illustrations. Very good/near fine. Tight, attractive first edition -- ex-library, though with very few and mostly-removed markings. more information

Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co., 1978. 16mo. Red cloth. 161pp. Near fine. Later printing. more information

Washington: The Sentinel Office, 1854. 8vo. Wrappers. 16pp. Double columns. Very good. At "The Douglas Banquet in the City of Chicago," a massive rally held at Chicago's Tremont House, Douglas reviews and defends at length the Kansas-Nebraska Act which he introduced into Congress on January 23 of this year. "Let us unfurl our banner to the battle and breeze," he concludes, "having inscribed upon its ample folds 'the Constitution and the Union; State rights and the right of the people to self-government; perfect religious toleration, and no proscription of American citizens, wherever born.'" A clean, attractive copy of this important address. Not in Sabin. more information

New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969. 8vo. Brown cloth. v, 431pp. Fine. Facsimile reprint of the 1864 original edition. more information

Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1968. 8vo. Blue and black cloth, dust jacket. xiv, 247pp. Illustrations. Very good/very good. Mild jacket edgewear; small abrasion at upper right of front flyleaf. Early (not first) printing, tight and attractive. more information

New York: Bantam Books, 1999. Small 4to. Black cloth spine and brown paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xxv, 227pp. Illustrations. Fine/near fine. A superb and tight first edition, signed boldly by Ford in black fineline on the title page, with a squiggle penned after his name that we assume represents an African symbol of some sort. more information

New York: Masses & Mainstream, July 1963 (Vol. 16, No. 7). Small 8vo. Stiff blue pictorial wrappers. 64pp. Very good. Minor edgewear. Handsome copy of this literary monthly -- this issue focusing on "New Negro Voices." Contributor's copy, having come from the private library of JOHN BEECHER (1904-80), noted social protest poet and fine press publisher, whose poem "Yours in the Bonds" appears here. more information

Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1948. 8vo. Black cloth. xiv, 295pp. Very good. Tight, quite decent first edition -- ex-library, though with very few and nonoffensive and mostly removed markings. more information

Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1964. 8vo. Red cloth, price-clipped dust jacket. 319pp. Near fine/very good. Handsome and tight first edition. more information

[New York]: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Small 4to. Tan and blue paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. 270pp. Fine/fine. Tight, handsome first edition of this how-to by Oprah's squeeze, nicely inscribed and signed by him in blue fineline on the title page: "Best wishes / Stedman Graham. more information

New York: Doubleday, 1988. Small 8vo. Cream cloth, pictorial dust jacket. 101pp. Near fine/near fine. First edition, tight and handsome, of this "intense drama of a white Southerner and a black slave" -- with a fine archival bookplate with a decorative border bearing Haley's bold signature in black marker tipped to the front flyleaf. more information

New York: William Morrow and Company, 1993. Small 4to. Burgundy cloth spine and orange paper over boards, dust jacket. 670pp. Near fine/near fine. Ownership signature on front flyleaf. First edition, a tight and bright copy of Haley's tale of his father's family. more information

N.p.: The Journal of Southern History, November 1972 (Vol. XXXVIII, No. 4). Small 4to. Self-cover, stapled as issued. Very good. Slightest of wear to outer wrappers only, else clean 'n' pristine. From the library of noted social protest poet and fine press publisher JOHN BEECHER (1904-80) ñ who grew up in Birmingham and often addressed Civil Rights in his work. Handsome copy of this scholarly offprint. more information