[African Americana] (Cooper, Anna Julia). A Voice from the South. By a Black Woman of the South

Xenia, Ohio: The Aldine Printing House, 1892. First edition. 8vo. (vi), iii, (iii), (9)-304 pp.; lacking frontispiece portrait. Publisher's maroon and tan cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt, boards rubbed and spotted; top edge gilt, other edges trimmed; patterned endpapers; ownership inscription of Black attorney Fountain Peyton on front paste-down, dated 1896; hinges repaired; text leaves toned, as usual; scattered light wear along text edges; scattered light soiling to text. Library Company of Philadelphia, Afro-Americana 2699; Blockson 4288

Rare first edition of Black educator and activist Anna Julia Cooper's first book, a groundbreaking work on race relations and gender inequality in the United States.

Born into slavery in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1858, Cooper was educated at Saint Augustine's Normal School and Collegiate Institute, where at a young age she fought for her right to take courses typically reserved for men. She later enrolled at Oberlin College, where she earned a master's degree in mathematics--one of the first Black women to graduate from the school and one of the first Black women in the United States to earn a master's degree. In the late 1880s she moved to Washington, D.C., where she helped establish the Colored Women's League and the Colored Settlement House, and taught mathematics and science at the M Street High School. Upon becoming principal of the school she spearheaded a progressive educational curriculum and raised the quality of the school's education, with many of her students being accepted at Ivy League schools and HBCUs. She later taught at the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri, and earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne, in 1924. As an activist and public speaker, Cooper advocated for better education and housing for the Black community, and through her speeches and published work provided an early Black feminist critique of American society during the height of Jim Crow.

Fountain Peyton (1861-1951) was one of the first Black attorneys in Washington, D.C. Born into slavery, during the Civil War he and his mother escaped to Washington, D.C., where he was educated at Wayland Seminary, and then at Howard University. Graduating with a law degree he opened a practice in Washington (one of the first three Black attorneys in the city at that time), and was the first Black lawyer to argue a case in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. He later became the first Black Examiner in Chancery for Washington, and was appointed to the city’s School Board in 1915, and in 1918 became its chairman.

A near-fine copy of this early Black feminist work.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Darren Winston

SVP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia

[email protected]267.414.1247

Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

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[African Americana] (Cooper, Anna Julia). A Voice from the South. By a Black Woman of the South

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