INSCRIBED BY MALCOLM X

(MACOLM X) LINCOLN, C. Eric. The Black Muslims in America. Boston: Beacon Press, (1961). Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket. $18,500.

First edition of this seminal study of the Nation of Islam, inscribed by the author on the rear free endpaper and inscribed on the front free endpaper "Best Wishes, Malcolm X."

Lincoln's seminal study established the Nation of Islam as a subject of serious academic inquiry; within its pages, Malcolm X is referred to and quoted extensively from beginning to end. According to an obituary of Lincoln from the Los Angeles Times, "Lincoln's account helped give Malcolm X prominence, and the two men became friends." Lincoln recorded interviews with Malcolm X as part of his extensive collection of sound recordings relating to Black religious life and movements (noted by the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning and the Robert W. Woodruff Library), and they participated in a number of public debates, including one with noted Black conservative George Schuyler in 1961. Dust jacket supplied from another copy of the first edition. Beneath Malcolm X's inscription is another in a different hand noting that it was "signed for B.T. Elliott, Jr. April 1961 at Temple #7 Harlem N.Y." Dr. Balaam T. Elliott was at the time a young student involved in the Civil Rights Movement; he would go on to earn a medical degree at the University of North Carolina and practice medicine in the United States and abroad, maintaining his engagement in civil rights throughout his professional career. The inscription on the rear free endpaper from the author is to Edith Mayfield, who, according to a laid-in note, obtained it at a conference. Gift inscription on front pastedown. Marginal pencil annotations.

Text with creasing to a few leaves in the rear endnotes, discoloration to cloth; dust jacket with minor edge-wear, mild toning to spine. An extremely good copy, very desirable inscribed by Malcolm X.