Dunbar, Paul Laurence; Armstrong, Margaret [decorations]

WHEN MALINDY SINGS [Signed]

New York: Dodd Mead and Co., 1903. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, 144 pages. Bound in publisher's pictorial cloth binding, with gilt titling and pink and green vines to spine. Boards show mild wear and rubbing, and chipping to head and tail of spine. The front free end paper has cracking at gutter from glue. Inscribed by Dunbar on the second free end paper, with a selection from his poem Philosophy. A second ownership inscription, dated 1903, appears below Dunbar's. CX Consignment. Shelved in Case 0.

1345988

Shelved Dupont Bookstore

Price: $4,000

NOTES

Dunbar is considered the first African-American poet to earn national distinction and acceptance, and one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. He passed away of tuberculosis in 1906 at the age of 33, making any signed copies of his books, especially of his later works, incredibly scarce. This first printing of When Malindy Sings is signed by Dunbar, and includes an extensive inscription in Dunbar's hand, transcribing a selection from his poem Philosophy: "It's easy enough to titter w'en de stew is smokin' hot, But hit's mighty ha'd to giggle w'en dey's nuffin in de pot." Interestingly, he spells out "enough'" rather than using the published version '"nough".