Corkey, Alexander. The Testing Fire. New York: The H. K. Fly Company, [1911]. First edition. Octavo, 303 pp. Original maroon decorative cloth, front panel stamped in gold, gray and black, spine panel stamped in black and gray, decorative title page. Illustrated with four black & white drawings reproduced on inserted plates. Early ownership signature on half-title. A fine copy of a beautifully designed book. #3576. $45. The story, with a contemporary setting in Dothan, Alabama (a small city in the southeast corner of the state), traces violent racial conflicts between both between blacks and whites and between whites who are trying to hold onto established prejudice and those bent on reform. The focus of reform in this case is the determination by some blacks to elevate the status of their race through education. A local college (Harbison Institute) has been established for the education of Negroes and is looking forward to the arrival of Booker T. Washington. That's in the background, while the foreground is dominated by the arrival of a white reform-minded woman from Pittsburgh (Rose Atkinson) and a white reform-minded Southern man (Jefferson Lilly). These two take up their struggles against the established local powers who do not shy from murder and arson in addition to other forms of abuse in their indulgence of a hysterically intense hatred. The fire in the novel's title takes both figurative and literal shapes as individuals are tested in this struggle, but the story ends on a somewhat hopeful note for the cause of integration. The novel was published just four years before the death of Washington.

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Bibliographic Details

Title: The Testing Fire
Publisher: H. K. Fly, New York
Publication Date: 1911
Binding: Hardback
Edition: First Edition.
Condition: Fine

Store Description

When I began my bookselling business in 1996 I called it "Eldritch Books" because that adjective at least partly covered the type of material I offered (and because its similarity to my own surname seemed so -- eldritch). "Ghost stories" would be another handy, if somewhat reductive, term. Most of it is fiction from the 19th and early 20th century with a strong emphasis on the fantastic. Since the most familiar and relevant genre terms in use today -- "science fiction," "fantasy," "supernatural," "horror" -- were not so much in use when these books were first published, pegging them that way can be anachronistic. But that should give you the general idea. I don't have much in the way of American pulp (either in magazine or specialty press book form) but otherwise my interests range widely from high-brow to middle-brow to low-brow to amateur/eccentric. You're more likely to find rare and obscure works here than high spots. (Or at least they're obscure now, whatever their status was when first published.) In 2001 I went to work for L. W. Currey as cataloguer and general assistant. Since 2014 I've been back working on my own. I have exhibited at convention fairs (such as WFC and Readercon) in the past. I began collecting and studying antiquarian fantasy around 1980. Some of my essays have appeared in genre publications such as NYRSF, Wormwood and F&SF. I tend to carefully research my inventory and write extensive notes. (If another dealer wishes to make use of any of these notes, I'd appreciate the courtesy of putting such excerpts in quotes and giving proper attribution to me. That's what I do when I quote from any of my reference works.) I will be gradually listing my inventory on ABE over the coming years. I hope you find something of interest.

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Robert Eldridge, Bookseller
NY, U.S.A.

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