[Prospectus and Order Form for the Novel, Dark Valor (The Man History Forgot)]

Toledo, Oh: Commonsense Publications, 1969. Good.. [4]pp., on a bifolium. Small folio. Heavy tanning at edges; occasional staining. An enthusiastic prospectus for an apparently unrecorded African-American novel, Dark Valor, by author Don Benn Owens, Jr. The cover blares, "The book in a million books!...An historical novel in which a black man played an important part in Columbus' discovery of America - something you will not read in American history books! BLACK RICARDO is the man who really gave the world AMERICA, not Christopher Columbus. ORDER NOW." The book, according to the mimeograph typescript inside, tells the story of Black Ricardo, Columbus' first mate who convinced him not to return to Spain just before sighting Hispaniola. "This black man put steel in Columbus' spine. You will not find his story in history books. After reading this thrilling novel you will be a much wiser person, and a much better American. Black Americans have nothing to be ashamed of, but many white Americans do. They have been living and dying in a make believe world." An order form on the second leaf verso allows one to reserve a copy for $4.95, though it is unclear if the book was in fact issued.

OCLC locates no copies of this literary endeavor, but does identify several of Owens' other publications, such as "Why the Negro Race Lacks Unity" and "Chemical Warfare Simplified.