African American Leaders

African American history and its leaders have shaped the nation and world. Bauman Rare Books presents these select rare books featuring Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois and others as vital to acknowledging and honoring the African American struggle for freedom and equality.

Typed draft page annotated

RARE AND DESIRABLE TYPED PAGE FROM AN EARLY DRAFT OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X, WITH A THREE-WORD AUTOGRAPH ADDITION IN MALCOLM X’S HAND AND 125 AUTOGRAPH EDITS BY ALEX HALEY, HANDSOMELY FRAMED

MALCOLM X and HALEY, Alex. Typed draft page annotated. No place, circa 1963.

Exceptionally rare typed page from an early draft of The Autobiography of Malcolm X with a three-word autograph addition by Malcolm X and 125 autograph edits by Alex Haley, handsomely matted and framed with photographic portraits of the authors. $12,000.

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American Fugitive in Europe. Sketches...

"AN ENDURING FIGURE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND LITERATURE"

BROWN, W[illia]m Wells. American Fugitive in Europe. Sketches… Boston / Cleveland / New York, 1855.

First edition of Brown's substantially revised and expanded Three Years in Europe (1853), newly titled as American Fugitive in Europe with 12 new chapters, issued within months of his return from years of exile, determined to continue his work as a soldier "against the prison-house of slavery," a core work in Brown’s "substantial legacy," with striking engraved frontispiece portrait, especially elusive in original cloth. $5800.

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Proud Shoes

"WE OWE SO MUCH TO HER COURAGE, TO HER WILLINGNESS TO SPEAK OUT" (JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG): PROUD SHOES, INSCRIBED IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION BY PAULI MURRAY

MURRAY, Pauli. Proud Shoes. New York, 1956.

First edition of Murray's powerful history of her family—looks "unflinchingly at issues of racism, sexism and miscegenation… a microcosm of African American history”—inscribed by her in the year of publication, "November 25, 1956, For Mr. and Mrs. R— W— with good wishes— Cordially— Pauli Murray," in very scarce dust jacket. $4200.

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Select Bibliography of the Negro American

"THE PREMIERE ARCHITECT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE U.S."

DU BOIS, W.E.B., ed. Select Bibliography of the Negro American. Atlanta, 1905.

First widely expanded and revised edition, a capstone volume in Du Bois's landmark Atlantic University series, this seminal 1905 work, edited and largely compiled by him, issued same year as the Tenth Atlanta Conference, very scarce in original wrappers. $3500.

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United States Court of Appeals... Motion

AMERICA’S "FAILURE TO SET ITS HOUSE IN ORDER, TO RANSOM ITS OWN PROMISE, BROUGHT OUT IN HIM… UNCOMPROMISING ANGER, A DOGGED REFUSAL TO BOW"

(ROBESON, Paul). United States Court of Appeals… Motion. New York, 1956.

First official edition of Robeson's 1956 amicus curiae brief for the long-denied restoration of his passport, a seminal document in the history of constitutionally protect freedom of speech and the right to travel, submitted by W.E.B. Du Bois and others, declaring "to silence Paul Robeson is to immobilize an eloquent, devoted, determined and respected fighter for the full emancipation of the Negro people," with accompanying facsimile of letter signed by Eslanda Good Robeson, one-page document and laid-in envelope with typed address. $2500.

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Minority Leader

MINORITY LEADER, INSCRIBED BY STACEY ABRAMS

ABRAMS, Stacey. Minority Leader. New York, 2018.

First edition of Abrams' passionate yet pragmatic guide to "finding ways to prevail, while bringing others along with you,” core strategies that continue to inform her battle for voting rights, inscribed on the title page by her, "For A— Stacey." $750.

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