GOING TO MEET THE MAN
1965
First printing of this collection of eight short stories by the acclaimed mid-century writer.
African American subject
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
1979
Signed limited Franklin Library edition of Baldwin's first novel, his semi-autobiographical "extended rite of exorcism" (Harris).
DARKTOWN STRUTTERS
(1994)
Inscribed first printing of Brown's second novel, exploring the collision of of art, racism, and violence in 19th-century minstrel performance.
TRAGIC MAGIC
(1978)
First printing of Brown's acclaimed first novel, edited and championed by Toni Morrison.
TRAGIC MAGIC
(1978)
Inscribed first printing of Brown's acclaimed first novel, edited and championed by Toni Morrison.
BLUESCHILD BABY
(1970)
First printing of this novel about Black man just released from prison, "the bright boy of infinite promise [...] and the very old parolee of twenty-two, who sees little difference between the prison world and the world outside."
CITY COOL: A Ritual Of Belonging
(1978)
Association publisher's review copy of this powerful novel of youth destroyed by gang violence, with extensive inscriptions from both authors to Harlem Writer's Guild president Bill Ford.
IF WE MUST DIE
1963
First edition of this novel about an African American Korean War veteran's experiences of violence while trying to exercise his right to vote in the segregated South.
"The Function of the Novel in American Democracy"
14 September [1967]
Original poster advertising Ellison's University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign lecture on the history and development of the novel.
THE WALLS OF JERICHO
1928
First edition of this Harlem Renaissance classic, depicting the inter- and intra-racial conflicts of the Black community in Harlem with a dash of satire.
IT NEVER RAINS IN LOS ANGELES
(1970)
Inscribed first printing of this murder mystery set in an LA high school during the Civil Rights Movement.
OUT OF THE BURNING
(1960)
First printing, tales of "[b]urglary, mugging, gun battles in the streets, orgies in the cellar club, the suffering of adolescent romance, thirteen arrests and beatings by the police, a year in state training school..."
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN
1971
First edition of this expansive novel that recounts the experiences of a Black woman over the course of an eventful century.
ROOTS
1976
First trade edition in first-state jacket, warmly inscribed in the year of publication: "11/30/76 / Tom and Barbara McDermott, / I want to join Stan and / Marilyn in wishing you a / Very Merry Christmas! / Alex Haley."
FINE CLOTHES TO THE JEW
1927
First edition of Hughes's "greatest collection of verse" (Arnold Rampersad), in the scarce original dust jacket designed by Aaron Douglas.
STUDY IN BRONZE
(1928)
First edition of this scarce novel by the English-born West Indies writer, about a woman in Jamaica with a Black mother and a white father.
THE THIRTY-EIGHTH FLOOR
(1965)
Handsome first printing of this Cold War-inflected political thriller of a near-future Chinese-Soviet-American military conflict.
THE KNOWN WORLD
(2003)
First edition of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the profound influence of the institution of slavery, on cultural and deeply personal levels.
CORREGIDORA
(1975)
First printing of this landmark work engaging with the generational trauma of slavery, edited by Toni Morrison and lavishly praised by James Baldwin and Angela Davis.
A DIFFERENT DRUMMER
1962
First edition of William Melvin Kelley's first novel, the story of an exodus of the Black population from a fictional Southern US American state after a traumatic event.
'SIPPI
1967
First printing of this voting rights and Black Power book, by one of the co-founders of the Harlem Writers Guild and a major mid-century author of protest novels.
BELOVED
1987
First printing of Morrison's masterpiece, based on the true story of Margaret Garner, a fugitive slave who killed her daughter upon capture in order to prevent her from experiencing the horrors of slavery.
LOVE
2003
Gorgeous signed first edition of Morrison's eighth novel, a "family history of love and hate" (Showalter) and Book-of-the-Month Club main selection.
SULA
1974
First printing of this story of friendship, duality, and perceptions of power and belonging – Toni Morrison's second novel.
A TOAST TO LOVE
1984
First edition, first printing of this Black romance from the Starlight series led by the influential Black editor Veronica Mixon — written by editor Vivian Stephens's sister and one of the founding board members of the RWA.
