Title: Native Son
Author: Richard Wright - Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African-Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. His work helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century.
Publisher: Harper & Brothers Publishers
City: New York
Year: 1940
Printing Information: Signed Edition
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: xi/359 pages
Width: 6" Height: 8.5"
Book Details: "Native Son" (1940) is a novel by American author Richard Wright. The novel tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black American youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s.

While not apologizing for Bigger's crimes, Wright portrays a systemic inevitability behind them. Bigger's lawyer makes the case that there is no escape from this destiny for his client or any other black American, since they are the necessary product of the society that formed them and told them since birth who exactly they were supposed to be. "No American Negro exists," James Baldwin once wrote, "who does not have his private Bigger Thomas living in his skull." Frantz Fanon discusses this feeling in his 1952 essay "L'experience vécue du noir", or "The Fact of Blackness". "In the end," writes Fanon, "Bigger Thomas acts. To put an end to his tension, he acts, he responds to the world's anticipation." (Information courtesy of Wikipedia)
Condition / Notes: This is a scarce author-signed first edition. The inscription on the front flyleaf reads "To / Leroy Goble / With all good wishes / Richard Wright / 3/11/40 / New York."

This volume is bound in dark blue cloth. The spine and front cover display the title in red lettering within a gray panel and the author's name in black within a red panel. The book shows light shelfwear. The binding is firm. Light foxing is visible on the endpapers. The pages are clean and without markings. The intact dust jacket, with price of $2.50 on the front flap, is lightly soiled and exhibits loss and taping along the bottom and top edges. The spine panel is sunned. The jacket is now preserved in a paper-backed mylar cover.

This book is from the library of Leroy Truman Goble, a minor figure in the Chicago literary renaissance of the 1920's. Goble was friendly with the likes of Sherwood Anderson and Ben Hecht. He was also a photographer and artist, although he seems to have worked in the fledgling advertising in Chicago during that time.

For lots which include only books, our shipping charge applies to any address within the fifty United States. For lots which are not books, the stated shipping cost in this listing will apply only to addresses within the continental 48 states. Within those parameters, the shipping cost for this lot will be: $4.50

Accepted Forms of Payment:

Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We take care to pack well, and ship in a timely fashion. Buyer pays for stated shipping within the United States, international customers please contact us for a shipping quote. We offer reduced shipping for winners of multiple lots, as follows: buyer pays full shipping amount of the won lot that bears the highest shipping charge, and receives a 30% discount on the stated shipping amount for all other won lots. For example, a winner of three lots with stated shipping charges of $4.50, $6.50 and $8.00 will pay $15.70 rather than the full $19.00. All books and other media ship via USPS Media Mail. Typical delivery time within the continental U.S. is 5-10 days. If your order is time sensitive, please contact us for a Priority Mail upgrade. Insurance is available and recommended (please note that by declining insurance, you assume the risk of loss or damage in transit) on shipped packages at a flat rate of $1.00 per $100.00 of coverage for domestic shipments and $2.00 per $100.00 of coverage for all international shipments (please let us know if you are adding insurance to your total). All shipments with a total value of $200.00 or greater, as well as all packages being shipped outside the United States, will require mandatory insurance coverage and that charge will be added to the shipping amount on the invoices.

by National Book Auctions
May 31, 2015 12:00 PM EDT
2085 Dryden Rd. (Route 13)
Freeville, NY, US 13068

National Book Auctions

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $59 $5
$60 $149 $10
$150 $499 $25
$500 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $9,999 $250
$10,000 $24,999 $500
$25,000 $49,999 $1,000
$50,000 + $2,500