A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South by Anna Julia Cooper
Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, By a Black Woman of the South, Xenia, Ohio, The Aldine Printing House, 1892
This collection of essays by writer, scholar, educator, and activist Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964) addresses a range of political and religious topics, including women's rights, segregation, and the postbellum South. She was a champion for African American and women's education, and this is considered one of first works of Black Feminism. Cooper was born into slavery, graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio, received her PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris, and became the President of a Black college in Washington, D.C. She lived to be 105 years old.
This copy of the rare, first edition of her book, in the original publisher's binding, is inscribed on the title page: "Harvey Ray, Kind regards of the Author, June 10, 1910".
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, New York, Random House, 1952
Invisible Man was Ralph Ellison's first novel. It won the National Book Award in 1953, making Ellison the first African American recipient of the award. Invisible Man addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early 20th century, including Black nationalism, the relationship between Black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.
This copy is a first edition, first printing, in the original publishers' binding, signed by the author and inscribed to a former owner on the title page. It is in the original dust jacket.