208 300
370
●
CHESNUTT, CHARLES.
Autograph Letter Signed * House Behind the
Cedars.
Two page ALS together with a rather worn copy of the book referred to in the
letter; binding sloped, and dulled.
SHOULD BE SEEN
.
Cleveland Ohio; New York, respectively, 1900
[1,000/1,500]
Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932), a mixed race author, attorney and civil rights activist, was the first
African American novelist whose work crossed into the white mainstream. Here, he writes to Ms.
Maude Jones replying to a request for his autograph. He also answers her query about how to get in
touch with poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. “You will pardon my delay in answering your kind note, as I
was out of town at the time and have only just got back to my desk. It is interesting to think that my
autograph might give you pleasure. I do not know the address of Mr. Paul Lawrence Dunbar, but he
resides in New York, and a letter directed in care of his publishers Messrs Dodd, Mead and Co 5th
Avenue & 21st St, New York will doubtless reach him. I hope you may read my new book The
House Behind the Cedars which will be out late October.” Chesnutt’s book, like many of his writings,
addresses the issues of race and social standing based on skin tone, drawing from his own experience.
370
371
371
●
GIOVANNI, NIKKI; JULIAN
MAYFIELD.
Anatomy of the Black
Aesthetic.
Black and white silkscreen
poster, 16
1
⁄
2
x 12 inches.
Philadelphia: Lee Cultural Center, 1969
[500/750]
Poster for a lecture series.