Books

New York: Random House, 1952. First Edition. Cloth. Very good/good. Tan cloth with black line drawing on top third, black cloth bottom 2/3. Line drawing overlaps front, spine, and back. Some discoloration to tan cloth. Faded white lettering on spine with black cloth. Laid in is: (1) typed personalized letter signed by Ellison declining an invitation extended by Columbia University; (2) undated article from New York Times Book Review, "Talk with Ralph Ellison" by Harvey Breit; (3) article, presumably in New York Times Book Review, entitled "Objectively Vivid, Introspectively Sincere," a review of Invisible Man. The placement of these articles has caused age toning on front flyleaves. On upper front flyleaf is printed previous owner's name and city with "April 1952." Dust jacket has chips to head and tail of spine, extremities worn. First edition. 439 pp.

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.

The first edition was published by Random House and includes a price of $3.50 on the dust jacket.