The Happy Negro by Ambrose Serle - 1820

Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Univ Press, 1982. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR to Sharon Sklar, who designed the dustjacket for this book-"Dear Sharon Sklar- Many thanks for the nice letter, but more importantly, thank you for the wonderful design work for the Oxherding Tale; what you've done here is beautiful - stunning, in fact, one of the best covers I've ever seen, and I love it. As I mentioned to John Gallman, people should buy the novel for the cover alone (forget the contents). With great appreciation, Charles Johnson, July 1982." A wonderful Association Copy , Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket with a small indentation rear panel at spine. Chartles Johnson went on to win the National Book Award for his novel "Middle Passage". Quite simply the best possible Association Copy of this title one could hope to own. . SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR. First Edition. Cloth. Fine/Near Fine. Association Copy.

Engraved title page with facing engraving signed M.Jackson titled UNCLE SAM'S EMANCIPATION: "O; massa may die; then nobody knows who get me, and nobody to take my part. No, master, I rather be free man"-Page 17. Also regular half-title and title page, 160pp. (plus 16 pages ads. for 1853 New Illustrated Works published by T. Nelson and Sons, London and Edinburgh.) Bound in contemporary marbled boards.
Londres : T. Nelson and Sons, 1853. Page de titre gravée avec gravure en regard signée M.Jackson intitulée UNCLE SAM'S EMANCIPATION "O ; massa peut mourir ; alors personne ne sait qui m'aura, et personne pour prendre ma part. Non, maître, je plutôt être un homme libre" -Page 17. Aussi faux-titre et page de titre réguliers, 160pp. (plus 16 pages d'annonces pour 1853 New Illustrated Works. Relié dans des planches marbrées contemporaines.

127 pages with plates including frontispiece. Octavo (8 3/4" x 6") bound in original publisher's green cloth with pictorial decorative brown, black, white and gilt front cover, lettering in gilt. Illustrated with photographs by Hampton Institute Camera Club. Decorations by Margaret Armstrong. (BAL 4937) First edition, first state with red and black lettering tot title.Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His parents instilled in him a love of learning and history. He was a student at an all-white high school, Dayton Central High School, and he participated actively as a student. During high school, he was both the editor of the school newspaper and class president, as well as the president of the school literary society. Dunbar had also started the first African-American newsletter in Dayton. He wrote his… Read More

Early copy of "Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des Progres de L'Esprit Humain" (Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind) Suive de (followed by) "Reflexions Sur L'Esclavage des Negres" (Reflections on the Slavery of Negroes) by Marquis de Condorcet. 1822; Chez Masson et Fils, Libraires; Paris. The book is written entirely in French. Leather covers with decorative gilt borders and gilt decorations on the spine; marbled end papers and marbling on all page edges. With a Table of Contents at the back of the book.Condorcet, who denounced slavery, was a French philosopher and mathematician. His ideas, including support for a liberal economy, free and equal public instruction, constitutional government, and equal rights for women and people of all races, have been said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and Enlightenment rationalism. In "Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind" (originally published in 1795), he dealt with theoretical thought… Read More

New York: Harper & Row, 1973. Uncommon. Near Fine, tiny spots top and bottom edge of boards, in a Near Fine dust jacket, scall crease head of spine and fore edge of rear flap. A quite handsome copy. . First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Univ Press, 1982. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR to Sharon Sklar, who designed the dustjacket for this book-"Dear Sharon Sklar- Many thanks for the nice letter, but more importantly, thank you for the wonderful design work for the Oxherding Tale; what you've done here is beautiful - stunning, in fact, one of the best covers I've ever seen, and I love it. As I mentioned to John Gallman, people should buy the novel for the cover alone (forget the contents). With great appreciation, Charles Johnson, July 1982." A wonderful Association Copy , Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket with a small indentation rear panel at spine. Chartles Johnson went on to win the National Book Award for his novel "Middle Passage". Quite simply the best possible Association Copy of this title one could hope to own. . SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR. First Edition. Cloth. Fine/Near Fine. Association Copy.

Engraved title page with facing engraving signed M.Jackson titled UNCLE SAM'S EMANCIPATION: "O; massa may die; then nobody knows who get me, and nobody to take my part. No, master, I rather be free man"-Page 17. Also regular half-title and title page, 160pp. (plus 16 pages ads. for 1853 New Illustrated Works published by T. Nelson and Sons, London and Edinburgh.) Bound in contemporary marbled boards.
Londres : T. Nelson and Sons, 1853. Page de titre gravée avec gravure en regard signée M.Jackson intitulée UNCLE SAM'S EMANCIPATION "O ; massa peut mourir ; alors personne ne sait qui m'aura, et personne pour prendre ma part. Non, maître, je plutôt être un homme libre" -Page 17. Aussi faux-titre et page de titre réguliers, 160pp. (plus 16 pages d'annonces pour 1853 New Illustrated Works. Relié dans des planches marbrées contemporaines.

127 pages with plates including frontispiece. Octavo (8 3/4" x 6") bound in original publisher's green cloth with pictorial decorative brown, black, white and gilt front cover, lettering in gilt. Illustrated with photographs by Hampton Institute Camera Club. Decorations by Margaret Armstrong. (BAL 4937) First edition, first state with red and black lettering tot title.Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His parents instilled in him a love of learning and history. He was a student at an all-white high school, Dayton Central High School, and he participated actively as a student. During high school, he was both the editor of the school newspaper and class president, as well as the president of the school literary society. Dunbar had also started the first African-American newsletter in Dayton. He wrote his… Read More

Early copy of "Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des Progres de L'Esprit Humain" (Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind) Suive de (followed by) "Reflexions Sur L'Esclavage des Negres" (Reflections on the Slavery of Negroes) by Marquis de Condorcet. 1822; Chez Masson et Fils, Libraires; Paris. The book is written entirely in French. Leather covers with decorative gilt borders and gilt decorations on the spine; marbled end papers and marbling on all page edges. With a Table of Contents at the back of the book.Condorcet, who denounced slavery, was a French philosopher and mathematician. His ideas, including support for a liberal economy, free and equal public instruction, constitutional government, and equal rights for women and people of all races, have been said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and Enlightenment rationalism. In "Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind" (originally published in 1795), he dealt with theoretical thought… Read More

New York: Harper & Row, 1973. Uncommon. Near Fine, tiny spots top and bottom edge of boards, in a Near Fine dust jacket, scall crease head of spine and fore edge of rear flap. A quite handsome copy. . First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.