Description
First edition of Long Lance, the apocryphal memoirs of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, inscribed to Vice President Charles A. Curtis.
Octavo, xv, [3], 278pp. Maroon cloth, title stamped on spine and front cover. No additional printings noted. Light soiling to cloth, touch of wear to spine. Solid text block. Complete with frontispiece portrait and 8 illustrated plates. Includes the publisher’s scarce dust jacket, $2.50 on front flap, light wear along edges, archival tissue repair to rear hinge, a bright example.
This copy is inscribed on the front free endpaper: “For: Hon. Charles A. Curtis / of whom we are proud / Buffalo Child Long Lance / Sept. 18, ’28.”
Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (1890-1932), born Sylvester Clark Long, was a man of African American and Native American descent who achieved prominence as a writer, journalist, and actor. He famously reinvented himself as a Blackfoot Indian, claiming the identity of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance. This autobiography, “Long Lance,” published in 1928, detailed his purported Native American heritage and experiences, however, his true background was later exposed, leading to scandal and personal downfall.
This copy was inscribed to the future Vice President Charles Curtis (1860-1936), the 31st Vice President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under President Herbert Hoover. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Curtis had a diverse heritage, being of Native American (Kaw, Osage, and Potawatomi) and European ancestry. This background made him the first multiracial person and the first person of acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach the vice presidency. Before serving as Vice President, Curtis served in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 1924-1929.
