(AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART) BROWN, Leon.

[Philadelphia]: National Drug Company, [ca. 1935]. First edition of these exceeding surrealistic medical drawings by African-American artist Leon Brown. The portfolio consists of six quite large (9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches) photolithographs by the virtually unknown African-American artist Leon Brown. At the beginning is an introduction written by a fellow employees _-"These remarkable pencil sketches are the work of a young colored artist in charge maintenance and purchasing at the research laboratories of the National Drug Company." Each of these delightfully bizarre illustrations is accompanied by a text leaf by Brown explaining what he was trying to achieve with the print. Thankfully, they are equally as bizarre and fascinating. Those six sheets are headed The Surgeon, Eye Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, The Pediatrician, The Obstetrician, The Psychiatrist & the The "GP." In the original manila envelope. In the Psychiatrist text lead we read "The escapist is always tying to bury his face in the rock he is clinging to; the sadist is branding a left arm with a hot iron, the many headed figure chasing the dwindling sections of female anatomy is the sex fiend; the figure stumbling through the water if fleeing from imaginary pursuers. the psychopathic inferior tearing at his hair is shown standing on two of his victims. The snake symbolizes the pits into which the insane used to be herded 100 years ago." His diction and imagery are outstanding. So? Where did he go?This is a rather remarkable publication. At a time when the Jim Crow laws were still going strong and racism was a given, a large company like the National Drug Company out of Philadelphia hired their African-American custodian to do some anatomical and other general medical practices drawings and actually published them despite the fact that they are really quite strange. We spent quite a bit of time and never found a trace of Leon Brown, much less any other art done by him. Another genius fallen by the wayside of history.