[Rarebooks] FS: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLOURED MAN, 1912, First Edition INSCRIBED to a founder of the NAACP

[Charles Agvent]

[JOHNSON, James Weldon]. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLOURED MAN. 
Boston: Sherman, French & Co., 1912. First Edition. Original 
gilt-decorated cloth. Johnson's first book, a fictional autobiography 
that appeared anonymously and explored the issue of a black man passing 
for white in America, serving as a launchpad for many later novels 
exploring the question of what it means to be black in America. This 
self-published first printing fared poorly, accounting in large part for 
the book's notorious scarcity, and it did not reach a wide readership 
until the second edition was published in 1927 and Johnson claimed 
authorship. INSCRIBED and SIGNED in full by the author "To Mr. Hamilton 
Holt,/With the sincere admiration/and esteem of the author,/James W. 
Johnson./New York City,/Sept. 30, 1913." It was in New York four years 
earlier that Holt helped to found the National Association of the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At the time of publication of 
this book Holt was proprietor and editor of the weekly INDEPENDENT. He 
was also one of this country's foremost internationalists, founding the 
World Federation League and serving as president of the American Peace 
Congress and director of the World Peace Foundation before spending 
years promoting the League of Nations. After an unsuccessful bid for the 
U.S. Senate in Connecticut, Holt accepted the presidency of Rollins 
College in Florida. Blockson's 101 Influential Books: #56. Holt's 
bookplate on pastedown with a modern postage stamp honoring Johnson. 
Some spotting and discoloration to the scarlet cloth, mostly on the 
spine and at the rear with minor fraying at the head of the spine. Still 
a Very Good copy and exceptionally scarce when signed. (#010722)        
$15,000.00

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