Lay My Burden Down A Folk History Of Slavery

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (1945). First Edition. First Printing Near fine in printed cloth covered boards with tan text on the dark spine. A small quarto of 9 by 6 inches with minor hints of rubbing to the corners of the spine. In a very good, unclipped dust jacket with large chips from the ends of the spine area, a 1/2 inch chip from the lower edge of the front panel, several short closed tears and creasing at the top edge of the same and one short closed tear at the upper edge of the rear panel. 286 pages of text and illustrated with a frontispiece black and white image from a photograph and eight pages of black and white images from photographs. The narratives contained within this title result from the efforts of employees of the WPA in their efforts to interview the then survivors of slavery. Unfortunately, the finished product was never published by the WPA or any of its subsidiary organizations, probably a result of racial bias in the 30s and 40s. It is for that reason this dealer has placed this title under the topical heading of WPA, American Guide Series and Federal Writers' Project.