FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW
First edition of Hughes's "greatest collection of verse" (Arnold Rampersad), in the scarce original dust jacket designed by Aaron Douglas.
Fine in very good jacket.
Price: $2,200.00
FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW
"FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW may stand in relationship to black American poetry in a way not unlike Walt Whitman's 1855 edition of LEAVES OF GRASS stands in relationship to white American poetry" – Arnold Rampersad
Published at the height of Langston Hughes's Blues period, FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW was Hughes's second book. This collection received both praise and ardent criticism, as reviewers balked at his informal language and the sexual content of some of the poems. The style was an important and conscious choice by Hughes: scholar Arnold Rampersad observes that, in FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW, Hughes "deliberately define[d] poetic tradition according to the standards of a group often seen as sub-poetic – the black masses" (145).
This first edition of FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW features a dust jacket and binding designed by Aaron Douglas, a pioneer of the African-American modernist movement. Douglas was "an integral part of the artistic culture of New York"; he blended Art Deco and cubist forms with the geometric shapes of African art to create stylish designs for publications by many of the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance (Pritchett). This is one of his better known jacket designs.
Read more: Arnold Rampersad, "Langston Hughes's FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW," Callaloo no. 26; Eleanor Pritchett, "The Book Art of Harlem Renaissance Artist Aaron Douglas;" Catalogue of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, item 5252.
The Object
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. 7.5'' x 5''. Original black cloth-backed paper boards in rainbow stripe pattern. In original unclipped ($2.00) color pictorial dust jacket designed by Aaron Douglas (with his initials "AD" in lower corners). Black topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. 89, [3] pages. Jacket with a couple long closed tears carefully repaired on verso, two shallow chips, and a touch of wear to spine ends: shows well. Book beautiful.
The Fine Print
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