Books

First UK edition. 8vo., original red cloth, dust jacket. London, Gollancz. A fine copy in a very slightly rubbed dust jacket, with a small inked number at the upper corner of the lower wrapper. From the Gollancz archives - which explains the number - so very probably unread. With this, his first novel, Ellison arrived fully formed into the American literary scene, attracting great praise, the narrative of the nameless protagonist confronting bigotry maintaining its power to this day. Saul Bellow said of the novel 'it is an immensely moving novel, and it has greatness'.

A novel by Ralph Ellison, published in 1952, Invisible Man addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.