Strength to Love

New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1963. Full Description:

KING, Martin Luther, Jr.. Strength to Love. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, [1963].

Signed by King on front free end paper "Best Wishes/Martin Luther King". In publisher's dust jacket. Octavo (8 3/8 x 5 5/8 inches; 212 x 144 mm). x, [2], 146, [2, blank] pp. Below the signature is an ownership stamp reading "Golden State Mutual Life Ins. Co."

Publisher's quarter black cloth over black paper boards. Spine lettered in gilt. In publisher's non-price clipped dust jacket. Jacket with some rubbing along edges and at the top of front panel. Top of jacket spine (truncated) with some very minor chipping. Bottom of jacket spine with a one-inch closed tear. Overall a very good jacket and an about fine book.

This copy's provenance is particularly interesting being that is was once part of the art collection of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, the insurance company renown for being one of the largest Black-owned insurance companies in the Western United States, and one of the few places in the 1920s that would insure Black people.

"Golden State Mutual founder William Nickerson, Jr. moved to Los Angeles from Texas in 1921 as an official representative of the Texas-based insurance company American Mutual Benefit Association. When he arrived in California, he soon discovered that the state's existing insurance agencies viewed its 40,000 Black citizens as either uninsurables or extraordinary risks. Black residents were only accepted at discriminatory premium rates, or denied insurance coverage altogether." (Online Archives of California).

"The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company was founded on July 23, 1925 in Los Angeles by William Nickerson Jr., George A. Beavers, Jr., and Norman O. Houston. Their mission was to provide dignified employment for African Americans and to provide them with insurance protection. Golden State Mutual operated for eighty-four years and grew to become one of the largest Black-owned companies in the United States." (Online Archives of California).

"The Golden State Mutual Life Ins. Co. owned a significant collection of artwork by African American artists, acquired and curated by one of their employees, artist William Pajaud. As art historian Kellie Jones states, the company had 'committed itself to supporting black creativity' since its founding but Pajaud 'moved Golden State to a new level of support for artists'.[6] Employed in 1957, Pajaud worked initially as art director in design for the company, and then ran the public relations department, but as a trained artist had a knowledge of art and connections with many fellow artists. He proposed starting a company collection in 1965 to celebrate the company's fortieth birthday, and with a small budget acquired over 200 works of art over the next twenty or so years... The collection was auctioned in 2007 when the company went out of business.." (Wikipedia).

Strength to Love is the second book written by Martin Luther King, Jr. and it is a collection of his sermons. This first edition was published in 1963, the same year he organized the nonviolent protests in Birmingham Alabama, and organized the March on Washington where he gave his most famous "I Have A Dream" speech. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.

HBS 68866.

$10,000. (Inventory #: 68866)