African Americana

8vo. (Minor toning.) Original publisher's navy blue cloth gilt (very minor wear to spine caps). Provenance: Thomas Johnson (gift inscription, bookplate). 

FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY SHIRLEY GRAHAM DU BOIS to Thomas O. Johnson, a prominent dentist in the Harlem community and friends with Langston Hughes and other figures of importance. This copy is inscribed "To Tom -From Shirley, Christmas 1924" alongside a small Christmas card signed "Tom Dear - From Shirley." 

Graham authored several books, was a playwright, composer, and activist for African American causes among others. She won the Messner and the Anisfield-Wolf prizes for her work. She composed the musical score for the 1932 opera "Tom Tom: An Epic of Music and the Negro." Performed by an all-Black cast and orchestra, its Cleveland performances were met with great acclaim. Graham had met DuBois when she was a young girl and the two were married years later in 1951.