The Negro and the Nation

New York City: Cosmo-Advocate Publishing Co, 1917. First edition. First edition. Signed by Hubert Harrison on the title page, inscribed to the former owner "To Rev. M. Hickens With the author's respects 29/4/20." 64 pp. Bound in publisher's side-stapled yellow wraps. Good+ with soiling to wraps; closed tear, corner chip and wear spot to front wrap; wear along spine fold, pencil mark to rear wrap. Scarce in any condition, much more so signed.

The African American radical activist and author's first book, one of 5,000 copies. It collects his essays and pieces from 1910-1914 for the first time including his essay response to Rudyard Kipling's (truncated) poem "The White Man's Burden," "The Black Man's Burden." (A poem by that title also by Harrison was published some time around this.) Includes "Socialism and the Negro," "What Socialism Means to Us," "Conservatism and Negroes," "The Negro and the Newspapers," and "The Real Negro Problem." Harrison (1883-1927) was a West Indian and American writer, intellectual, and tireless activist. Considered "The Father of Harlem Radicalism," he worked as an editor for New Negro magazine and Marcus Garvey's newspaper, Negro World. In later life, Harrison also wrote extensively for other newspapers, including the New York World. He founded the Liberty League and Voice: A Newspaper for the New Negro. (Inventory #: 140944311)