The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (100 Copy Collector's Edition) - Hardcover

Johnson, James Weldon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1774372649 ISBN 13: 9781774372647

Publisher: Royal Classics, 2020

Synopsis

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is the fictional account of a young biracial man, referred to only as the “Ex-Colored Man,” living in post-Reconstruction era America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He lives through a variety of experiences, including witnessing a lynching, that convince him to “pass” as white to secure his safety and advancement, but he feels as if he has given up his dream of “glorifying” the black race by composing ragtime music.

James Weldon Johnson originally published The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man anonymously in 1912, because he was uncertain how the potentially controversial book would affect his diplomatic career. He wrote openly about issues of race and discrimination that were not common then in literature. The book’s initial public reception was poor. It was republished in 1927, with some minor changes of phraseology, by Alfred A. Knopf, an influential firm that published many Harlem Renaissance writers, and Johnson was credited as the author.

This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Classics
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1774372649
• ISBN 13: 9781774372647
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 120