[Harlem Renaissance] Copper Sun; with decorations by Charles Cullen

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927. First Edition. Two copies in different binding variants (one a later issue) of the poet's second collection. Crown 8vo (190 x 127mm): xi,[1],89,[1]pp, illustrated throughout. First Printing (with "first edition" and "G-B" on copyright page): Publisher's black cloth over brown and black marbled paper-covered boards, beige paper labels printed in black to front cover and spine, top edge stained copper, fore-edge rough-trimmed; neat owner's signature dated 1927 and bookseller's ticket (Post Street Book Shop, San Francisco) to paste-downs. A handsome copy (several lines neatly underlined), tightly bound and clean throughout. Later issue (with "C-C" on copyright page): Publisher's black cloth over blue and orange marbled paper-covered boards, lime-green paper label printed in black to front cover, beige paper label printed in black to spine, top edge stained orange, fore- and bottom edges rough-trimmed; bookseller's ticket (Whaler Book Shop, New Bedford) to front paste-down. Virtually pristine. Both copies wanting the dust jacket. Perry 2. When Cullen published Color, his first collection of poetry, in 1925 at the age of twenty-two, he was already the most famous Black writer in America. While still highly praised, Copper Sun "disappointed some who found the romantic themes and conventional poetic forms that had contributed to his early fame increasingly out of step with the growing interest among black artists and intellectuals for folk forms and racially conscious subjects. It did not help Cullen's reputation then or later that he asked to be judged as a poet and not a "Negro poet", though the nuances of his argument about the relation of race to art were sometimes ignored or misunderstood." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).