"A MAGNIFICENT CLASSIC": ELLISON'S INVISIBLE MAN
ELLISON, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, (1952). Octavo, original black and tan cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First edition of Ralph Ellison's great American novel, the only novel published in his lifetime.
Winner of the 1953 National Book Award, Ellison's matchless first novel is "one of the most important works of the 20th century" (New York Times). A work in which Ellison's "visionary genius achieved a perfection" (Harold Bloom, Genius), Invisible Man is a "magnificent classic… [which] soon became a vital and permanent contribution to American literature" (Blockson 86). "First Printing" stated on copyright page: first issue dust jacket with $3.50 on front flap.
Book fine; lightest edge-wear to handsome about-fine dust jacket.