Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down

Ishmael Reed

Published by Allison & Busby, 1971

About this Item

Inscribed first UK edition. 8vo hardcover in yellow cloth boards and pictorial dustjacket. 177pp. Clean and well bound. The author's second novel. Inscribed two times by Ishmael Reed to recto and verso of dedication page, first to a "Wiley [spelling uncertain], brother + friend", then to "Mabel + Winnie, best wishes / old friends / April 28, 1974". 1 color polaroid affixed to both front and rear free endpapers: one depicts children in a schoolyard riding tricycles, the other a portrait of two children on a lawn, identities unknown. The Winnie of the inscription is presumably his friend Winnie Stowers, one dedicatee of Reed's 1970 poetry book "catechism of d neoamerican hoodoo church", a "son of the great Duke Ellington vocalist", and part of what Reed once called a group of Black, Irish, Italian, and Jewish American intellectuals - himself included - who created a "renaissance" in the city of Buffalo, New York in the early 1960's. Dustjacket, now in protective covering, in presentable condition - several moderate chips to edges and spine extremities, all text and portrait of Reed remains legible/visible. Price unclipped. Reflective blue titling to book's spine still lustrous. Boards' upper and lower edges tanned mildly, corners only tinily bumped. Endpapers with some tape residue as a result of the affixed polaroids, with faded spots to upper corners. FFEP and title page indented/stained in the shape of a paperclip. Page interiors all bright and fresh, remarkably so for their age. Pageblock clean excepting two tiny spots to lower edge. Altogether a most unique example of this uncommon UK first edition.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1682202758761

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down
• Publisher: Allison & Busby
• Publication Date: 1971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)