Arthur D Spingarn (1 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. 1st Edition. A rare original copy of a collection of writings honoring James Weldon Johnson, famous writer and civil rights activist, after his death in 1938. Includes two inlaid photographs, pasted to pages along their top edges: one is a portrait of Johnson, and the other is a photo of Johnson reading "The Creation" to Mrs. Johnson and a group of students gathered in their living room on Fisk Campus. The book begins with an biographical sketch of Johnson and a timeline of his life. The rest of the book is comprised of 3 pieces written for "the Sunday evening program specially planned in [Johnson's] honor" on April 23rd, 1939 at Fisk University: (1) "An Appreciation of James Weldon Johnson" by Arthur D. Spingarn, (2) "My Friend: James Welden Johnson" by Carl Van Vechten, and (3) "The Negro in American Literature" by Sterling A. Brown. The book is softcover with a stapled binding and is in Fair condition. There are stress lines in gutters on some pages, eminating from binding. The paper underneath the 2nd photo, and adjacent pages, are lightly foxed. Binding staples rusted. Previous price in pencil on corner of ffep. The fore edge of text block is roughly cut, with some pages having nicks in this edge. Some pages have bumped corners. Otherwise, the text is in great condition - pages are bright, clean and clear of writing, markings, highlighting, etc. The cover is heavily worn. The cover split down the spine, and was repaired with scotch tape on the outside of the spine and inside of the front and back hinges. Cover corners and edges heavily worn, creased over in spots, with small chunks missing on top/bottom of spine. Cover has many dampstain blemishes and other surface soiling, and is darkened/toned. …