(Toledo, Ohio: Hadley & Hadley, Printers and Binders, 1895). First edition. 12mo. 148 pp. Inscribed by Paul Laurence Dunbar on verso of frontispiece: "Compliments of Paul Laurence Dunbar". Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Dunbar. Publisher's gray cloth, stamped in gilt, spine slightly toned, boards slightly darkened and soiled, light wear to edges and corners; top edge stained dark, other edges trimmed; patterned endpapers; front and rear hinges worn with free endpapers loose; front free endpaper chipped along edges; sheets toned; contemporary newspaper clipping regarding Dunbar laid in. BAL 4917; Blockson 101

Scarce inscribed first edition of Paul Laurence Dunbar's second book. Dunbar (1872-1906) was one of the most famous African American writers of the period and the first to achieve national acclaim. Despite his early death at age 33 from tuberculosis, Dunbar was a prolific writer, and is remembered for his dialect verse and representation of Black life at the turn of the century. Due to his early death, books signed or inscribed by him are scarce and rarely come to market.