"AIN'T YOU HEARD/ THE BOOGIE-WOOGIE RUMBLE OF A DREAM DEFERRED?": MEMORABLE PRESENTATION/ASSOCIATION FIRST EDITION OF MONTAGE OF A DREAM DEFERRED, WARMLY INSCRIBED IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION BY LANGSTON HUGHES
HUGHES, Langston. Montage of a Dream Deferred. New York: Henry Holt, (1951). Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket.
First edition of Hughes' much anticipated 10th volume of poetry, in his own words, "a tour de force"—heralded as an "expansive poetic statement on the fate of blacks in the modern, urban world"—a distinctive –presentation/association copy warmly inscribed in the year of publication by him to the prominent labor historian and his wife, "Inscribed especially for Henry and Dorothy Kraus—with happy memories of Cleveland—Sincerely, Langston, New York, March 17, 1951.
Montage of a Dream Deferred is a vibrant synthesis of Hughes' ability to make African American jazz and "the 'blues' as much a part of American literature as it had become of American music" (Hamilton, 241). Hughes considered this work, his 10th volume of poetry, to be "'precedent shattering… a tour de force'… Believing that the crucial medium of the 20th century was probably the montage (the composite, swiftly changing picture) or the collage (the inspired arrangement of still fragments), he sought to catch in verse the variety of Harlem life… At varying, unpredictable times witty, sardonic, ironic, expository, whimsical, documentary and tragic, Montage of a Dream Deferred is an expansive poetic statement on the fate of blacks in the modern, urban world" (Rampersad, Life Vol.II:151-53). A "'street epic' full of all sorts of jazz effects," it features the classic poem "Harlem," along with "Dream Boogie," "Joe Louis," and many others (Hamilton, 241).
"It is his generous and fierce love of human beings and gift of expression in terms of a people's speech, which gives Hughes' work its great appeal. However, its greatest value lies in its articulation of the… demand for respect and justice in a hostile white world" (Kirkus). With "First Edition" on copyright page. Bruccoli & Clark III:162. This presentation copy is inscribed by Hughes to the influential labor historian and activist Henry Kraus and his wife Dorothy Kraus. Henry Kraus was an organizer of the 1936-37 Flint Strike and was the first editor of the UAW newspaper, The United Auto Worker. He authored two seminal works on the UAW: The Many and the Few (1947) and Heroes of the Unwritten Story (1993). Not long after Hughes' inscription, the Krauses moved to Paris. A recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Award, Henry Kraus also authored major works with his wife on medieval art and iconography. Their "pathbreaking investigation of medieval church stalls in Western Europe resulted in the restoration and preservation of these neglected artworks" (MacArthur Foundation).
Book fine; light edge-wear, toning to spine of the highly elusive, extremely good dust jacket.