Signed first edition of biography of heavyweight champion boxer JOE LOUIS, "The Brown Bomber" who fought racism and Nazism with athletic skill.
Near fine.
Price: $1,500.00
"He will be just JOE LOUIS, when he is champion of the world."
Joe Louis's mastery of the boxing ring made him a hero to African Americans, and later, a symbol of the power of Democracy over the Nazi regime. His 1938 rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling was held in Yankee Stadium, to an in-person audience of over 70,000 in people, and tens of thousands of others breathlessly followed the fight over the radio – including a young Maya Angelou. She recalled the excitement and importance of Louis's victory to Black US Americans in her essay CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: "The last inch of space was filled, yet people continued to wedge themselves along the walls of the Store. Uncle Willie had turned the radio up to its last notch so that youngsters on the porch wouldn't miss a word [...] Champion of the world. A Black boy. Some Black mother's son. He was the strongest man in the world."
JOE LOUIS, MAN AND SUPER-FIGHTER covers Louis's early career and successes, as well as his struggles against racism in and out of the ring. A beautiful copy, rare signed by Louis.
Read more: Maya Angelou, "Champion of the World."
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1936. 7.5'' x 4.75''. Original brown cloth binding with yellow lettering to spine and front board. Lacking scarce original dust jacket. Black-and-white photographic frontispiece with facsimile signature. [8], 184 pages. Front flyleaf signed by Louis with "Best Wishes," dated June 9, 1936. Binding with a bit of bumping to corners and spine ends. Some foxing to frontispiece and the two leaves on either side. A notably sharp copy.
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