Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, (1997.). First edition - The first collection of poetry by this young African American writer from San Francisco. Cover praise from Diane di Prima. 67 pp. Review copy with publisher's material laid in. ISBN: 1-880684225.

New York: Doubleday, 1973. dj. Hardcover first edition - Fourth collection of poetry by this African American writer. contains 46 poems plus brief introductory prose comments. Praise from Kay Boyle, Gwendolyn Brooks and others. 110 pp. ISBN: 0-385-004818.

Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1977. First edition - Includes 35 pages of new poems and 175 pages of poems from 5 of HarperÕs earlier books. Nominated for the National Book Award in 1978. ISBN: 0-252-006970.

Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1971. First edition - Second collection of poems by this African American writer. ISBN: 0-252-001451.

Rochester, New York: BOA Editions Ltd., 2011. First edition - The author's second collection of poems (her first won several awards), one which "focuses on the sad, funny, mundane reality of life in a nursing home. In her own words, Janice N. Harrington worked her way through college as a nurses' aide and wrote The Hands of Strangers because she 'cannot forget the 'girls' I worked with or the 'residents' under my care. I haven't forgotten what I saw, heard, felt, or learned.'" American Poets Continuum Series #130. 75 pp. ISBN: 978-1934414545.

Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, (1998.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Divided into four sections, roughly chronological, these poems were written between the early 1970s and the early 1990s when Henderson was dividing his time between California and New York. Cover praise from Baraka, Ishmael Reed, Calvin Hernton and others. 144 pp. ISBN: 1556432755.

New York: Harlem River Press, (1990). First edition - Award-winning poet's first collection - focused on exploring "the political realities in the lives of women" and containing many short poems on city life, homelessness, birthing as well as a long poem "rituals of spring" written on the 75th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire." This collection received the William Carlos Williams Award. 120 pp. ISBN: 0-863161367.

New York: George Braziller, 1958. dj. Hardcover first edition - The selected writings of the man whom Carl Van Vechten called "the Negro Poet Laureate". One of the most important figures of the Harlem Renaissance, he wrote poet, plays, novels, autobiography, drama, short stories, articles and more. This book contains a generous selection of his work in all categories and includes some new material not previously published in book form. 501 pp plus a 1 pp bibliography.

New York: George Braziller, 1958. dj. Hardcover first edition - The selected writings of the man whom Carl Van Vechten called "the Negro Poet Laureate". One of the most important figures of the Harlem Renaissance, he wrote poet, plays, novels, autobiography, drama, short stories, articles and more. This book contains a generous selection of his work in all categories and includes some new material not previously published in book form. 501 pp plus a 1 pp bibliography.

New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, (1998). First edition - A title in the Harcourt Brace Casebook Series in Literature under the series editorship of Laurie G. Kirszner, Stephen R. Mandell. Designed for college students, this includes biographical information on Langston Hughes, a selection of his poems, discussion and research questions and a selection of secondary sources, bibliography and more. xii, 154 pp. ISBN: 0-155054813.

New York: Scholastic, (1996.). This book - Hughes's only book of poetry for young readers - was originally published in 1932 with 59 poems. This edition is enhanced by Pinkney's scratchboard illustrations and also contains 7 additional poems and an introduction by Lee Bennett Hopkins. ISBN: 0-590-623966.

New York: Scholastic, (1996.). This book - Hughes's only book of poetry for young readers - was originally published in 1932 with 59 poems. This edition is enhanced by Pinkney's scratchboard illustrations and also contains 7 additional poems and an introduction by Lee Bennett Hopkins. ISBN: 0-590-623966.

Chicago: DuSable Museum, (1984). First edition - A slim collection of twelve poems. Hummons was the sister of Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Chicago educator, activist, artist and one of the founders of the Du Sable Museum. 20 pp. Uncommon (only one copy located in Worldcat)

Evanston, IL: Triquarterly Books, (1993.). First edition - Collection of poems about the experiences of women - and especially African American women - many using the central metaphor of the spider. 103 pp. ISBN: 0-8101-50018.

Seattle and New York: Wave Books, (2016). SIGNED - Black poet's second book, one which "weaves sonnet, song, and narrative to examine the lives of mostly unrecorded African American performers directly before and after the Civil War up to World War I" from the Jubilee Singers to Blind Tom to Sissieretta Jones, Edmonia Lewis and many others. The citation for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize cited it as "a distinctive work that melds performance art with the deeper art of poetry to explore collective memory and challenge contemporary notions of race and identity." INSCRIBED by Jess on the title page. Illustrated with drawings and photographs. Includes a timeline and bibliography. Large square format. 235 pp. ISBN: 978-1940696201.

Amherst, MA: Verse Press, (2005). SIGNED - The first book of poetry by this African American writer, selected as a winner in the National Poetry Series competition by Brigit Pegeen Kelly. His second full-length collection, Olio, was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Warmly INSCRIBED on the title page and dated in 2012. Includes notes, Leadbelly's timeline and references. Square format. 215 pp. ISBN: 0-974635332.

New York: Viking, 1935. dj. Hardcover first edition - The title poem of this collection was originally privately published in an edition of only 200 copies, and was written in reaction to the news that the when the US was sending a contigent of gold star mothers to Europe to visit the graves of their sons, that the Negro mothers would not be allowed to sail on the same ship as the white gold-star mothers. Also includes poems from his first book of poetry and some which had not previously been published in book form.

Detroit: Lotus Press, 1985. First edition - The title poem is a long historical narrative poem set in Brazil in 1741, twenty years after the destruction of the second Palmares, one of the settlements founded in that country by escaped African slaves. 70 pp. Cover drawing by James Lewis. ISBN: 0-91641860X.

Detroit: Lotus Press, (1983.). First edition - A collection of several narrative poems by this African American novelist - one, "The Machete Woman," tells the story of an African slave who takes refuge in a convent in 1637 after hacking to death her mistress. ISBN: 0-916418-43x.

Detroit: Lotus Press, 1985. First edition - The title poem is a long historical narrative poem set in Brazil in 1741, twenty years after the destruction of the second Palmares, one of the settlements founded in that country by escaped African slaves. 70 pp. Cover drawing by James Lewis. ISBN: 0-91641860X.

Venusian Publishing, (2014). SIGNED first edition - A collection of poems rooted in music - jazz, blues and hip-hop - by a young Black woman. Foreword by Marjol Rush-Collet of the Langston Hughes Family Museum. INSCRIBED on the title page. 103 pp. ISBN: 978-1478247012.

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, (2014). Award winning African American poet's fourth collection - a "montage of poems, wherein film serves as the setting for contemplative trances, memoir, and pure fantasy. At its center is a sonnet sequence that imagines the struggle of pioneer filmmaker Oscar Micheaux against D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation, which Micheaux saw not only as racist but also as the start of a powerful new art form.. . an extended riff on Jordans life as a moviegoer and a brilliant exploration of film, poetry, race." Notes. 133 pp. ISBN: 978-0393348736.

San Francisco: Androgyne, 1987. Biography of the African American beat poet, published shortly after his death in San Franciso in 1986. Illustrated with black and white photographs. Bibliography. xii, 82 pp plus publisher's ads

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2004) dj. Hardcover first edition - A powerful collection of poems by this Pulitzer prize winning poet, all written in three line stanzas, which examine the role of blacks in Western civilization and how these roles are portrayed in art and literature. 132 pp. ISBN: 0-374-291489.

Berkeley, California: Creative Arts Book Co., (2001.). SIGNED first edition - Collection of poems by this award-winning Oakland based, African-American poet, many which look at everyday events in a fresh and observant way- whether it is a teacher looking at the end-of-term gifts from his Vietnamese immigrant students and flashing back to being a 19 year old grunt in the jungles of Vietnam, or an engineering professor stuck with a carload of white, right-wing Republicans to help them 'hide behind a smiling mask of diversity.' SIGNED on the first page. 115 pp. ISBN: 0-88739342X.

San Francisco: City Lights Books, (1998.). First edition - African American poet's third collection, comprising numbers 16 through 35 of Song of the Andoumboulou. 111 pp. ISBN: 0-87286-3417.

San Francisco: City Lights Books, (1998.). First edition - African American poet's third collection, comprising numbers 16 through 35 of Song of the Andoumboulou. 111 pp. ISBN: 0-87286-3417.

Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, (1970.). First edition - African American novelist and anthologist's first major collection of poems. From 'The Wesleyan Poetry Program, Volume 54'. A National Council on the Arts Selection. 64 pp. ISBN: 0-8195-10548.