Search Results: African-American History from Charles Agvent

New York: Crown Publishers, (2006). First Edition. Hardcover. Fine in a Fine dustwrapper. INSCRIBED "To Don & Becky/All the best!" and SIGNED by the former President on the title page. SIGNED copies of this, the first printing, are much more difficult to locate than later printings.

Tuskegee, AL, 7 Dec. 1897. Autograph. Mild aging of paper. About Fine. A fine quote--"Be too great to be little"--on a 6-1/2" x 8" page removed from an autograph album SIGNED and dated by Washington in Tuskegee. The verso bears an unknown signature as does the top of the page that Washington has signed, but this could be easily removed or matted over. A wonderful display piece.

New York: Harper & Brothers, 27 July 1878. Print. Some edgewear but an at least Very Good example of this fragile item. Folio (11" x 16") extracted from an 1878 issue of HARPER'S WEEKLY, the woodcut image is quite likely the first depiction of blacks playing America’s game.

New York/Cincinnati: Phillips & Hunt/Walden & Stowe, [1859]. First Edition. Hardcover. Quite shaken with a number of pages loose or detached; lacking one illustration, as noted; occasional stain. Covers worn and stained, gilt worn but readable on spine. Fair to Good only, but rather scarce. Original brown cloth (4" x 5-3/4"); 158, [2] pages. With 9 (of 10) illustrations. This children's storybook contains 5 sections. The first is about the institution of slavery, explaining to children what slavery means. The other 4 sections are stories about particular people. Seven years after Jewett brought out the Illustrated Edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe's UNCLE TOM’S CABIN, 9 of Hammatt Billings' drawings from that edition were used in a short, simply-written collection of abolitionist children's stories. No author's or editor's name appears on the title page. Billings is not given any credit, nor is any mention made of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. In the introduction by “D.W,” readers are told that the “stories… Read More

New York: Random House, (1967). First Edition. Hardcover. Fine in a close to Fine dustwrapper with light wear at the spine head. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

New York: Random House, (1967). First Edition. Hardcover. Minor bumps to upper corners, still Fine in a Fine dustwrapper. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

New York: Random House, (1967). First Edition. Hardcover. Fine in a very close to Fine dustwrapper with a tiny nick at the heel of the spine. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Washington, DC, 1890. Document. Crease marks from folding. Very Good. A deed SIGNED by Bruce as Recorder of Deeds, a position appointed to him by President Benjamin Harrison replacing Frederick Douglass. Bruce is best known as the first African-American to serve a full term in the United States Senate.

Philadelphia, 1863. First Edition. Wraps. Marginal staining. Very Good. Decorated wraps; 15 [1] pages. Addressed to the people of Indiana, Owen argues against those who would make a separate peace with the South. Includes a brief discussion of the Dred Scott case. Robert Dale Owen was the son of Robert Owen, founder of the New Harmony utopian community.

Boston & New York: Munroe and Francis; Charles S. Francis, 1828. Second Edition. Hardcover. A Fine example of this scarce title. Duodecimo (4-1/4" x 6-3/4") bound in contemporary calf, recently and neatly rebacked; 180 pages. A rare example of the FIRST COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED BOOK WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE UNITED STATES and THE FIRST COOKBOOK WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN. A guide for house servants to help them to understand the rules of keeping a prominent white household, it includes recipes and advice to black servants on how to properly clean plates, what to wear, what time to arise for work, how to deal with drunk people, how to restore furniture, and how to take care of themselves. More household-management manual than cookbook, Roberts gives suggestions for employers on how to manage domestic help (very unusual for the time), but he was more interested in teaching young black men how to succeed in their work and ensure their advancement. Roberts begins the book: "In order to get… Read More

Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1837. First Edition. Hardcover. Private library number in ink at top of title page, contents quite clean; front endpaper lacking; hinges cracked but holding. Some edgewear and staining to covers. Very Good. Original cloth-backed printed boards (4" x 5-3/4"); xii, 126 pages. Complete with a printed note from William Lloyd Garrison. George Thompson was well-known to anti-slavery activists on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a powerful orator and fought for abolition throughout his personal and professional career, often risking his life in the process. “During the fifteen months from August 1834 to November 1835 nothing caused so much excitement in the American press, both pro-slavery and abolitionist, as the anti-slavery mission of the British reformer George Thompson” (Rice, C. Duncan; JOURNAL OF AMERICAN STUDIES, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 1968).

[Tuskegee, AL], [early 1906?]. Manuscript. Minor wear with a one-inch closed tear to first sheet. Near Fine. A handwritten manuscript by Washington consisting of 17 pages (numbered 1-3, 7-14, a-f) on 17 8-1/4" x 11" sheets, apparently missing pages 4-6, with a partial typed transcript. The handwritten letter by Washington is to the trustees of the Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute and is SIGNED as "Principal." Washington's thorough report on the state of Tuskegee drawn up for his trustees. It is apparently a manuscript draft intended for publication, although we have not found any printed copies. It includes discussion of the institution's guiding principles and challenges in addition to the details of finance and fundraising. Washington acknowledges the difficulty of his unique student body: "The fact that so large a proportion of the students depend upon the cotton crop for the money with which to pay their proportion of the expenses at the school, makes it necessary for many of them to leave… Read More

5 April 1968. Document. Light, expected wear for these fragile items; paper yellowed. Very Good. Group of original teletype dispatches dated 5 April 1968 covering the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. comprised of three pieces. 1. Third World News Roundup (8-1/2" x 28-1/2"). "A stunned nation reacts to the death of Martin Luther King ... President Johnson reacts by calling Negro leaders to the White House ... For the moment, at least, no one is sure which direction the Civil Rights movement of the nation will take." 2. Sixth World in Brief (8-1/2" x 34"). "Reaction to the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr ... Some of it prayerful ... some violent.... Top stories of the hour from United Press International ... URGENT ... Black Power militant Stokely Carmichael has called for retaliation for what he called the 'execution' of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He told newsmen in Washington today 'our retaliation won't be in the courtroom but in the streets of America.' He said that negroes… Read More

Milwaukee, WI: Parkman Club Publications, 14 September 1897. First Edition. Softcover. Mostly unopened. Rear wrap neatly detached. Very Good and quite uncommon. Stapled printed green wraps (6-5/8" x 9-1/2"); 211-244 pages plus blank and covers. The Ordinance of 1787 forbade the practice of slavery or involuntary servitude in any form in the Northwest Territory, making it a crime to own and possess humans as slaves. Despite federal law making it a crime to own and possess humans as slaves, slavery existed in Wisconsin. This paper describes a number of case histories, mostly of those bringing slaves to Wisconsin from other states, and the various reactions of Wisconsin residents.

(New York): Amistad, (2007). First Edition. Hardcover. Fine in a Fine dustwrapper. Obama's meteoric rise from Hawaii high schooler to exemplary Harvard Law School student to well-groomed politico to history-making presidential candidate is the stuff of legend. Veteran CHICAGO TRIBUNE journalist David Mendell has covered Obama since the beginning of the candidate's campaign for the Senate. In this book, the author offers a revealing, detailed portrait based on intensive research and exclusive interviews with Obama's closest aides, mentors, political adversaries, and family-- most notably his charismatic wife, Michelle. It is an eye-opening look at the evolution of a brilliant politician whose name has become a catchphrase for hope in a politically jaded society. SIGNED by the former President on the title page. An uncommon book to find signed. Accompanied by one of those completely unnecessary certificates of authenticity.

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1857. First Edition. Softcover. Paper age toned, stitching a bit loose resulting in several detached pages; front wrapper lacking, rear detached, with some chipping to the edges. A Good copy only but complete and original with no library markings. Printed wraps lacking the front cover; complete, pages 393-633 [240 pages]. Grolier American 68; Howes S218; Sabin 33240. One of two simultaneous printings, the other in Washington D.C., for which no precedence has been established. The opinion of the court in this case constitutes the contents of this very important document. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom in 1846 because he lived for a time in free states before returning with his owner to Missouri, a slave state. He won the initial case but lost on appeal and then filed suit in federal court. The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, voted 7-2 against Scott's appeal, declaring that all blacks, slaves or free, were not and never could… Read More

1878. Framed Autograph. Fine and attractively presented. A fine AUTOGRAPH dated 1878 with the added notation "Yours very truly" by this great American. Attractively matted and framed to an overall size of 8" x 6".

Chicago: Western Bank Note & Engraving Co., 1868. First Edition. Document. Recently backed with thin paper with several professional repairs of chips and tears. Very Good . Large folio (16-1/4" x 21-3/4") finely engraved and printed on good quality paper with elaborate decorative borders with a "US" monogram to upper corners, a bold calligraphic heading with "ABOLISHING SLAVERY" in prominent decorated letters; at top center is a small vignette of the pyramid and all-seeing eye above an oval vignette of a slave family with child mourning over a cameo portrait of Lincoln. This is followed by the engraved signatures of President Lincoln, Vice President Hamlin, Schuyler Colfax and J. W. Forney (Speaker and Secretary of the Senate), and 164 Senators and Congressmen. An exceedingly rare and beautiful printing of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude ... Shall exist within the United States...." This elaborately engraved Reconstruction-era broadside, is… Read More

Chicago: M. A. Donohue & Company, n.d. [early 1900s]. Softcover. Early owner inscription on front cover; both covers soiled. About Very Good. Pictorial linen; 8 pages including covers. Front cover, which depicts a rooster, and rear cover along with two internal pages in color. A few images are negative stereotyped depictions of African-Americans including a Golliwog and a Mammy.

Washington DC, 6 February 1964. Letter. Not examined out of frame but appears to be laid down on stiff board. Near Fine. To Frederic Morrow on 7" x 9" Attorney General stationery in simple frame thanking him for his letter and an address that "I have read with interest. The next time you are in Washington please feel free to call my office. We will be glad to arrange a tour of the FBI for you....and, if I am in town, perhaps we can talk for a few minutes." SIGNED "Robert F. Kennedy." Morrow served as Officer for Special Projects in the Eisenhower administration from 1955-1961. He authored a book, BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE, which details his actions and thoughts while serving during the turbulent birth of the Civil Rights Movement.