GOLDEN SLIPPERS: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers by Bontemps, Arna - 1941.

This is the landmark three-volume set, each individually signed, by late tennis great Arthur Ashe. From the jacket(s): "A Hard Road to Glory, a three-volume work, is the definitive history of black athletes in this country and a milestone in the presentation of United States social and cultural life.... A major contribution to both black history and American history, A Hard Road to Glory is the saga of African-American athletes, from their seventeenth-century ancestral homelands to the present." All 3 volumes are illustrated with B/W photos, and include a reference section, sources list, and index.
A description of each volume follows:
Volume 1
1619-1918
Book Description: Warner Books, New York, NY, 1988. First printing. Number line 10-2. Book Condition: FINE. Binding is tight and square. No extraneous marks or writing. Dust Jacket Condition: NEAR FINE. Not price clipped ($29.95). No chips or tears. Signed on half-title page: "Peace, Arthur Ashe, For Joe," (The comma at the end of both the 1st… Read More

Chicago, Brothers of the Book, 1917. First Edition. Soft Cover. [8] p.; 17 cm. Poem by Jamaican-born African American poet and journalist P. Alberty . "Proceeds go to the Chicago Committee of the American Fund for the French Wounded." The poem was the title of a 1921 collection of Roberts's poems. This is the rare first printing. Slightly soiled; held together with red, white & blue ribbon; very good. Stock#OB517.

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good +. Oblong small quarto, 208pp., illustrated. A crisp, clean copy, near fine, with some foxing to the edges. In the scarce dust jacket, very good or better, with a dampstain at the base. A wonderful visual and textual document of rural Black musicians in the American south. Mitchell, an accomplished photographer, conducted interviews with all of the musicians, and adapted these into prose narratives. Mitchell has spent most of his career in Atlanta, and he published a volume of photographs of various figures and establishments on Ponce de Leon Avenue in his 1983 book "Ponce de Leon." His first book, the one offered here, is rare in dust jacket.

The saga of desegregation in the Dallas Public Schools. Following the Supreme Court order in Brown vs Topeka (Board of Education), Dallas' reluctance to desegregate resulted in the school district being under the surveillance of the Federal District Court. In 1994, after 40 years, the District Court released its surveillance and declared the school district in compliance. An interesting companion piece to Jim Schutz' 'The Accommodation', which cover much of the same period except it's focus is housing. The book is in fine, like new condition. The dust jacket has a fold on the inside front flap, otherwise fine.

New York: The Floating Bear, 1961. 1st edition. Soft cover. Very Good/No Jacket (as issued). VG. 4to, 12pp (mimeographed), corner-stapled. A rare early issue of this seminal 1960s little magazine. Includes an excerpt from The System of Dante's Hell by Jones and Roosevelt After Inauguration by William Burroughs (Schottlaender v4.C25; Shoaf III-25). An unmarked copy, never folded or mailed, with stains to back cover and a little toning.

[Washington, DC: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 1924].. 7,[1]pp. Octavo. Printed self wrapper. A couple of small rust marks to rear wrapper, otherwise fine. First separate printing of this address by the poet activist, given by Johnson at the VI International Summer School of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Chicago May 1924. In large part, Johnson's comments are made in reference to the causes and consequences of the US occupation of Haiti following the assassination of the Haitian President in July of 1915. OCLC: 26035710.

London & New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1958. From the library of Ralph Ellison -- author of INVISIBLE MAN, perhaps the 20th century's most critically acclaimed African-American novel. Books from Ellison's library are rare in the market -- almost unobtainable. Fine condition in a Very Good dust jacket. White part of the dust jacket's rear panel is mildly tanned at the edge. See photos. NOT price clipped ($3.50). A square, tight copy. Sharp corners. NO owner's name or bookplate, but with a letter to Ellison from the publisher laid-in (see photos). The letter is dated April 18th, 1958 and is addressed to him at 730 Riverside Drive, New York City (his home, directly across from what is now the Ralph Ellison Memorial in Harlem). The letter reads in part: "Dear Mr. Ellison: At the personal request of Adriaan van der Veen, I am pleased to be sending you an advance copy of THE INTRUDER, to be published September 10th. We are proud to be issuing the English translation of this… Read More

LECTURES on the Philosophy and Practice of Slavery As Exhibited in the Institution of Domestic Slavery In the United States with the Duties of Masters to Slaves.
William A Smith DD, President of Randolph-Macon College And Professor Of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy
Edited by Thomas O Summers, DD Stevenson and Evans 1856, Nashville, Tenn Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by WILLIAM A. SMITH, In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY A. A. STITT, SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
The book consists of thirteen lectures on the subject of slavery as was given to students of Moral Science in Randolph Macon College. The author presents lectures on the various components of slavery. His main reason for agreeing with the institution is that is "a fundamental… Read More

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Wright II 1893. Extra vignette title, frontis, and illustration. Anti-slavery novel. Hardcover Condition: Brown cloth cover with gilt spine spine title. Spine chipped at bottom. Front pastedown cracked at gutter but hinge still strong. Slight spine slant. Boards have toning. Interior pages clean. Ownership inscription on FFEP (appears to be in pencil).

[Civil War]. [Reconstruction]. [North Carolina]."The triumphant North demanded three things of the defeated South: acknowledgment of the emancipation of its slaves; contract freedom for all citizens, black and white; and national reunification. Emancipation, freedom, and reunification were still just words. Their meanings remained unfixed. The image of the new country would emerge only as the lines connecting these ideological dots were drawn. As former North Carolina governor David L. Swain recognized, 'With reference to emancipation, we are at the beginning of the War.'" [Richard White. "The Republic For Which It Stands."]OFFICE OF THE PROVOST MARSHALL, NORTH CAROLINA. [Confederate Amnesty Oath supporting the United States Constitution]. Raleigh, North Carolina: Office of the Provost Marshal, 1865. Unbound. Single leaf. Unused form slip, printed in black on white stock. Measuring approximately 8.3 by 6.3 inches. Light age toning. Remnant stationary at verso top edge, likely from old scrapbook… Read More