"IT'S A TIME FOR MARTYRS NOW"
MALCOLM X and HALEY, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove, (1965). Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. $1500.
First edition of this modern American classic—"a document for our time" (New York Times)—with 16 pages of photographic illustrations, in original dust jacket.
"His autobiography, a story of self-creation and redemption, reveals the complicated, compelling, still-evolving private man. Jailed for burglary, in the closed world of prison Malcolm Little found freedom in the power of the word. He read prodigiously; became a passionate convert to Elijah Muhammad's Black Muslim movement; and walked out as Malcolm X… Each of these changes was a stage in a long intellectual journey, uncompleted at his death. 'If I'm alive when this book comes out, it will be a miracle,' he wrote. 'It's a time for martyrs now" (Books of the Century, 61). Published after a lengthy collaboration with Alex Haley and shortly after Malcolm X's assassination in February the same year, The Autobiography of Malcolm X was immediately praised as "a brilliant, painful, important book… as a document for our time, its insights may be crucial; its relevance cannot be doubted" (New York Times). With "First Printing" on copyright page. Brigano 163. Blockson 2235.
Only faint toning to spine of bright dust jacket. A fine copy.