Letter From Birmingham City Jail

Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee, 1963. First Edition. First Printing. Slim octavo (23cm); pictorial wrappers, stapled; 15,[1]pp. Subtle toning and dust-soil to wrapper extremities, some wear and handling, faint vertical crease at center, with some holograph notes for bulk pricing (in ink) on rear wrapper, with a small chip filled in with Japanese tissue at upper rear wrapper; Very Good.

First commercial printing of King's eloquent assertion of the principles of non-violent resistance, which would become one of the key documents of the American civil rights struggle, and one of the most significant 20th century works written (truncated) by a political prisoner. King's letter was written as a response to "A Call for Unity," an open letter by eight white clergymen in Birmingham (published April 12, 1963) in response to the civil rights demonstrations taking place there at the time. The local ministers were opposed to the events "directed and led in part by outsiders" (a thinly-veiled reference to King) and declaring his activities "unwise and untimely," and while they agreed that racial and social injustices existed, they urged negotiations with the local establishment, and for those battles to be fought in the courts. A copy of the newspaper which printed "A Call for Unity" was smuggled in to King's jail cell and provoked his response, written with all the eloquence of a Pauline epistle. He lays out his case for and the moral responsibility of their campaign of non-violent direct action, and his increasing frustration with white moderates, and his major disappointment with the white church and its leadership. "I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshippers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integrations is morally right and because the Negro is your brother." He admonishes them for commending the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence," and encourages them to be a voice for change. "There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair."

Introduction by Colin Bell, Executive Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee dated May 1963, less than a month after the letter was written. The pamphlet went into at least six printings of 30,000 to 50,000 copies each within the first year of publication. This printing missed by Pyatt, who notes only magazine appearances within the year of publication. BLOCKSON 3226. (Inventory #: 85088)