8vo. (Hinges discreetly repaired, edition statement on title partially removed.) Original gilt-lettered black cloth, covers ruled in blind, top edge gilt, others uncut (spine lightly toned, some light edgewear). Provenance: Wilbur W. Winn (bookplate, ownership signature on front free endpaper); Jack Misner (ownership stamp on front free endpaper).

"Second edition", but actually a first edition, second printing, published only six months after the first. There were, in all, three printings in 1903 alone. Du Bois’s most famous work, which was a landmark in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African American literature. In his work, Du Bois first used the term “double consciousness” to describe the two fields of vision that Black Americans consciously must use: how they view themselves and how the world views them. Du Bois describes this agony as “two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder”.