E-LIST #35
The Harlem Renaissance

[No Place]: [No Publisher], 1939. Revised edition. The second edition of the pocket dictionary of African American slang attributed to the famous Cotton Club orchestra leader. It has been billed as "the first dictionary published by a Black person," but more accurately it is one of the first lexicons of African American slang of the Jazz age. Some of the words and phrases spread like gangbusters to mainstream America: "chick," "freeby," "hot," "in the groove," "mellow," "corny," and "reefer" for example. Some did not, such as the phrase "togged to the bricks" (meaning to be dressed to kill) and "glims" (much better known as eyes).

[16] pp. 2.75" x 4.4" Stapled wraps. Very Good+ with a few small stains to front wrap, a few of which bled through to the first few pages of text, typical rusting to staples. Rare, only one institutional copy located in a recent OCLC Worldcat search. Item #140939611

 $3,500

Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1920. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's brown paper covered boards over black cloth spine, stamped in gilt. Near Fine. Spine cloth faded with titles on spine mostly illegible. Light soiling. Front inner hinge repaired, small stray mark to front free endpaper. Light offsetting to rear blank sheets from four-leaf clover laid in.

Rachel is generally accepted as the first published and produced play by an African American woman; it originally ran in 1916 at Myrtill Miner Normal School in Washington, D.C. The playwright was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Item #140939202

 $2,000

New York: Hyperion Press, 1941. First edition. Large folio. Publisher's white cloth lettered on the front cover and spine, and with an illustration from the book reproduced on the front cover that is had colored by the Creative Printmakers Group. Lacking slipcase. Illustrated with 24 original lithographic captioned plates by Hirschfeld, printed on hand made paper manufactured by Canson and Montgolfier.Copy #240 of 1,000. Cloth rubbed at foot, small stain to back board, else Near Fine with binding intact, unsophisticated, and contents bright and attractive.

The celebrated caricaturist's take on Harlem in the jazz age, plus a quick trip to Bali at the end for some sumptuous line-drawings of dancers. Item #140939612

 $3,000

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934. First edition stated, first printing. Bound in publisher's original orange cloth decorated in black. Very Good or better with light lean to spine, top edge dust-soiled and foxed, rear cover lightly soiled. Previous owner name in light pencil to front free end paper, paste downs offset. In a Very Good dust jacket with light edge wear, light soiling and fading to the red print on the spine. Scarce in the dust jacket. Item #140939608

$3,500

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1937. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's original orange cloth lettered in black; lacking the dust jacket. Near fine with minor shelf wear, a small scuff to the front cover and slight ridge to backstrip. A fantastic copy of Zora Neale Hurston's best-known work. Item #140939372

 $6,500

New York: Robbins-Engel Inc., 1927. 81 pp. First edition, first printing. Signed by Eva A. Jessye, and inscribed to a former owner on the title page. Bound in publisher's original floral and checker patterned cloth with titles labels to spine and upper board; illustrated by Millar of the Roland Company. Near Fine, with light fraying at corners, and partial loss to title label on spine, offsetting to pages 4 and 5 from a formerly laid in sheet, else a fantastic copy, signed by the author. Features seventeen spirituals from the author's life.

Jessye was a notable choral director of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the first African American woman to receive international distinction as a professional choral conductor. In 1935, she worked alongside George Gershwin as musical director on his opera, Porgy and Bess. Item #140939609

 $750

Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1939. First edition. [24] pp. Original orange stapled wraps. Very Good with a single vertical crease to wraps and all pages, additional crease to back wrap corner. Contents bright and clean, though, with six black-and-white reproductions of paintings therein. Scarce with no other copies for sale in the trade currently, a total of three copies found at auction, and only 17 institutional copies found in a recent OCLC search.

An important catalog of one of the first exhibitions of African American art, and apparently the very first to be held in the South. The exhibition was historically significant for its contents and style as well; it was the first to frame Black art as "modern." Over 12,000 visitors saw the 116 works by 29 artists, including Jacob Lawrence, Dox Thrash, Samuel Joseph Brown, Elton Clay Fax, Archibald Motley, James Lesesne Wells, and Hale Woodruff. Over 80 years later the Baltimore Museum of Art commemorated this occasion with the exhibition "1939: Exhibiting Black Art at the BMA." Item #140939610

 $4,500

Albany: Albany Institute of History and Art, 1945. First edition. Original wraps. About Very Good with staining and separation to front wrapper at bottom staple, small chip nearby; faint dampstain to fore edge of prelims and front wrap. An illustrated collection of biographies of prominent African American artists with an introduction by Alain Locke, the philosophical architect of the Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro Movement. Each artist is listed with a biography and pictures of select works. Artists include Romare Bearden, Eldzier Cortor, Lois M. Jones, and many others. Uncommon. Item #140939613

$1,000

New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1925. First edition. xv, 446 pp. Original quarter cloth lettered in blue and blue paper-covered boards with red topstain. Near Fine with tips exposed and rubbed edges, faint toning to front board with a thin line of rubbing, a few rub spots to endpapers, former owner's name and info written on half title; overall a very clean, bright copy lacking the scarce dust jacket. Uncommon in such nice shape.

The leading African American poets and writers of the early 20th century are featured in this important anthology, which came to define the Harlem Renaissance movement: Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jessie Fauset, and more. Item #140939120

 $2,000

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1924. 300 pp. + 2 [ads]. First edition, first printing. Signed by Walter F. White and warmly inscribed in the year of publication to George A. Towns. Towns was an African American educator at Atlanta University, civil rights activist, active NAACP member, and friend of W.E.B. Du Bois. Bound in publisher's decorated magenta cloth covered boards. Very Good. Lean to binding, spine faded and rubbed. Top edge of textblock shows a water spot and a short worm tract affecting up to page 38. The first novel by the noted Harlem Renaissance figure and leading civil rights activist, who led the NAACP from 1929-1955. Item #140939189

 $950

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926. 300 pp. First edition, first printing. Signed by Walter F. White and warmly inscribed to George A. Towns. Towns was an African American educator at Atlanta University, civil rights activist, active NAACP member, and friend of W.E.B. Du Bois. Bound in publisher's decorated magenta cloth covered boards. Good. Light lean to binding, light staining to cloth, spine faded and with an area of tears to near foot which has been glued down. Pages toned. The second acclaimed novel by the noted Harlem Renaissance figure and leading civil rights activist, who led the NAACP from 1929-1955. Item #140939188

 $950