Description
The first edition, first printing of The First Book of Negroes by Langston Hughes.
Square octavo, 69pp. Full green cloth, title in gilt on spine and front cover. Full-color pictorial endpapers. Stated “First Printing” on copyright page. Prior dampstain to cloth, rubbing to tips of the spine, solid text block. Notable toning to leaves, offsetting to endpapers, retains a faint smell. Features numerous color and black-and-white illustrations by Ursula Koering. In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, $1.75 retail price on front flap, loss of most of the spine, large chips and several closed tears. A distressed copy, but a scarce jacket in any condition.
This first printing is notable for the inclusion of Josephine Baker; a dancer and actress who was the first Black woman to appear in a major motion picture (Siren of the Tropics). Baker was accused of Communist sympathies by New York columnist Walter Winchell in 1951, which led to her fleeing to France for nearly a decade. These accusations led to her swift removal from all later printings of this book.
The First Book of Negroes is the first of a five-book series by Langston Hughes, all of which aimed to educate children on the history of African people and the accomplishments of African Americans. The later publications include: The First Book of Jazz (1954), The First Book of Rhythms (1954), The First Book of the West Indies (1956), and First Book of Africa (1964).
