Books

A wonderful First Edition, First Printing (so stated) of Ralph Ellison's classic work, signed and dated by the author on the title page, "Ralph Ellison, April 4, 1986." In beige and black cloth with white titling, the book is in near fine condition with a slight lift to the beige cloth on the spine and slight loss of lettering, light spotting on the black topstain and age toning to the pages. But still a solid near fine first with "A.B." on the bottom of the copyright page as required. The very good dust jacket is complete with the original price ($3.50) and the colorful panels as well as the cream panels are bright. There is wear and splitting at the folds and minor loss at the spine ends. Also there is a quarter-size abrasion on the back panel and other minor wear on the dust jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer, but still very good. This important book is housed in a beautiful custom clamshell box. In black cloth with tan inserts and glossy cover inset and spine label designed to match the cover of the book. Overall an important edition of a most important book in a beautiful setting.

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.