The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches [Limited Edition, Signed]

New York: The Blue Heron Press, 1953. Fiftieth Anniversary Edition. One of an unstated number of copies signed by the author on a decorative plate tipped onto the front pastedown, this being copy no.497. Octavo (21cm); publisher's mauve and white patterned paper-covered boards and black cloth backstrip, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; mauve topstain; publisher's original glassine overlay; xviii,264,[6]pp. Trivial wear to lower corners, tiny tear with attendant crease to right margin of half-title page, else very Near Fine in a glassine with numerous tears, creases, and small losses. Handsome edition of this cornerstone sociological work by Du Bois, first published by A.C. McClurg in 1903. "Souls Of Black Folk was written beautifully in a style which Du Bois labored to perfect. It is one of the noteworthy books not merely of the period but of the epoch. The monumental work was the opening salvo in the struggle that has dominated the century for black and white Americans: the quest for dignity, justice and equality...Every page is filled with spirituality and with spontaneity" (Blockson 52). This edition bears a new foreword by Du Bois, titled "Fifty Years After," and introductory matter by his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois.