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Passing

Passing

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Passing

by Larsen, Nella

  • Used
  • fair
  • first
Condition
Fair
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Portland, Oregon, United States
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NZ$16,892.00
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About This Item

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929. First Edition. Fair. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's original black cloth ruled in red with silver lettering. Fair, with light staining to cloth. Cloth rubbed through at corners and edges, superficial splits to top of spine joints and a horizontal split to cloth partially across the top of the spine, though the binding is stable. Former owner ink inscriptions to front free endpaper and the following blank sheet is partially detached. Former owner's inkless emboss to half-title page and pages toned.

The author's second novel, widely considered a major work of 20th century American fiction and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as a keystone of both feminist and African-American literature.

Synopsis

Nella Larsen was born in Chicago of interracial parentage on April 13, 1891. She grew up in a white world, primarily among people of German and Scandinavian stock. Her first experience with an all-black world occurred in 1909, when she matriculated at the high school division of Fisk University in Nashville. After studying at the University of Copenhagen for two years, Larsen moved to New York City in 1912 to study nursing at Lincoln Hospital. She would later train as a librarian, earning her certificate from the New York Public Library in 1923. In 1919 she married Elmer Samuel Imes, a prominent black research physicist, who introduced her to Harlem's literary and social elite. Larsen’s first novel, Quicksand , was published by Knopf in 1928 and was awarded a Bronze Medal by the Harmon Foundation in recognition of Distinguished Achievement Among Negroes in Literature. Passing was published in 1929. In 1930 Larsen became the first African American woman to be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing. Following a highly publicized divorce in 1933, Larsen gradually withdrew from literary circles and abandoned writing altogether. She spent the last twenty years of her life working as a nurse in Manhattan hospitals. Nella Larsen died in New York City on March 30, 1964.

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Details

Bookseller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
140943442
Title
Passing
Author
Larsen, Nella
Book Condition
Used - Fair
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Edition
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1929
Keywords
Harlem renaissance, feminism, feminist literature, criticism, critical theory, African-American women, Black lit, novels, race, racism
Bookseller catalogs
Literature;

Terms of Sale

Burnside Rare Books, ABAA

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Burnside Rare Books, ABAA

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon

About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA

Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Fair
is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....

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