Books

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1935. First edition of Hurston's classic work, "the most engaging, genuine, and skillfully written book in the field of folklore" (Alan Lomax). Octavo, original cloth, with 10 illustrations by Miguel Covarrubias. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles to the spine, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, raised bands, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. Introduction by Franz Boas. Rare and desirable. "Hurston's influence on African literary tradition continues to grow," and Mules and Men remains "a key text in African American literary and cultural studies" (Wall in African American Writers, 175). Even amidst the brilliance of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston's "presence was legendary." Trained as an anthropologist at Barnard, she studied with Franz Boas, who "recognized her genius immediately." On returning to her home state of Florida, Eatonville and New…

A collection of African American folktales gathered by Zora Neale Hurston during her ethnographic studies in the Southern United States.