Slave Trade (to accompany Bill H. R. 412) April 7, 1830, 21st Congress, 1st Session [Rep. No. 348] (African Colonization, Slave Trade ) by Mercer, Charles F - 1830

New York: Random House, 1975 First printing of the stated first edition. Signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou directly on the title page: "Lois Langland, / Joy! Maya Angelou / Nov 19, 1980 / (I hope we can be / together, again.)" Lois Langland taught (professor emeritus in psychology) at Scripps Women's College. Toning/offsetting to endpapers, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with faint toning to spine and cover margins, else fine.

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

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).

New York: Random House, 1973. Uncorrected First Proof copy. Octavo. 190pp. Publisher's red paper wraps titled in black to front cover. Some light scuffing, and a couple of spots of grubbiness to the covers, but essentially a clean, tight copy. Internally clean, a pencil annotation "April..?" to the title page. A scarce proof copy of the first book on Black reparations and which Morrison guided into print as an editor at Random House. Written by a white professor at Yale, Morrison felt the book was "an important contribution to the fledgling reparations debate." A significant proof on its own, of a book that was an origin point for the intellectual debate about reparations for many decades, but also because it documents Morrison's incredible tenure and astute publishing history during her tenure at Random House. Necessarily scarce.

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1963 First printing of the stated first edition. Tanning to upper edge and two line margins on page 6 and 7, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with a short closed tear/crease near bottom front spine fold, shallow wear/creasing to bottom spine end, light rubbing along folds, and light wear to upper back cover, else fine.

New York: Random House, 1975 First printing of the stated first edition. Signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou directly on the title page: "Lois Langland, / Joy! Maya Angelou / Nov 19, 1980 / (I hope we can be / together, again.)" Lois Langland taught (professor emeritus in psychology) at Scripps Women's College. Toning/offsetting to endpapers, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with faint toning to spine and cover margins, else fine.

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

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).

New York: Random House, 1973. Uncorrected First Proof copy. Octavo. 190pp. Publisher's red paper wraps titled in black to front cover. Some light scuffing, and a couple of spots of grubbiness to the covers, but essentially a clean, tight copy. Internally clean, a pencil annotation "April..?" to the title page. A scarce proof copy of the first book on Black reparations and which Morrison guided into print as an editor at Random House. Written by a white professor at Yale, Morrison felt the book was "an important contribution to the fledgling reparations debate." A significant proof on its own, of a book that was an origin point for the intellectual debate about reparations for many decades, but also because it documents Morrison's incredible tenure and astute publishing history during her tenure at Random House. Necessarily scarce.

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1963 First printing of the stated first edition. Tanning to upper edge and two line margins on page 6 and 7, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with a short closed tear/crease near bottom front spine fold, shallow wear/creasing to bottom spine end, light rubbing along folds, and light wear to upper back cover, else fine.