STRENGTH TO LOVE, INSCRIBED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. FOR NOTED LABOR RIGHTS LEADER MIKE QUILL
KING Jr., Martin Luther. Strength to Love. New York, Evanston, and London: Harper & Row, (1963). Octavo, original half black cloth gilt, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First edition of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s second book, inscribed by the author and civil rights leader, “Best Wishes, Martin Luther King,” in original dust jacket. An excellent association copy from the library of Transport Workers Union of America co-founder and president Mike Quill.
Dr. King's first volume of sermons, Strength to Love saw print in the same year in which he penned his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," joined the historic March on Washington and delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech. The following year he won the Nobel Peace Prize. King notes in the preface: "In these turbulent days of uncertainty the evils of war and of economic and racial injustice threaten the very survival of the human race. Indeed, we live in a day of grave crisis. The sermons in this volume have the present crisis as their background; and they have been selected for this volume because, in one way or another, they deal with the personal and collective problems that the crisis presents." Additionally inscribed "June 12, 1963, To Michael Quill," apparently in Quill's own hand. Mike Quill was one of the founders and first president of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU). "Quill was for many the living embodiment of the labor movement during its years of peak strength" (ANB). King was the keynote speaker and guest of honor at the 1961 TWU National Convention. He signed this book at a Gandhi Society for Human Rights luncheon in his honor on June 12, 1963; the original invitation to the luncheon is laid in. Quill served on the Gandhi Society's Board of Directors, and presented King a check for $10,000 at the event. King thanked him in a June 14, 1963 letter: "You and the members of your Union have proved to be real and abiding friends of those of us who are struggling for freedom and dignity in the Southland." Quill died in 1966.
Book very nearly fine with slightest fading to boards. Dust jacket near-fine with light rubbing and edge-wear. A desirable inscribed association copy.