- Keyword = African Literature
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NEO-AFRICAN LITERATURE: A History of Black Writing.
Edition: First US printing.
Condition: Fine in yellow cloth in a very near fine dust jacket (creasing to edge of front flap of dj)
Book ID: 87951More details Price: $35.00 -
THE WRITING OF EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.
Nairobi, Kenya: Heinemann, (1984). First edition - A comprehensive survey on the novels, poetry and drama of East Africa. Includes essays on the literature of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and more, and on the works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Nuruddin Farah, Meja Mwangi and others. Contributors include Ismael Mbise, John Reed, L. A. Mbughuni. Bibliography, index. x, 274 pp. ISBN: 0-435916718.
Condition: Good only - 2 leaves (171-2 and 178-9 have been torn and are half missing, embossed seal of previous owner) .
Book ID: 79356More details Price: $12.50 -
ABIKU.
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback, issued simultaneously with hardcover.
Pasadena, CA: Nepotist Books, (1998.). SIGNED first edition - "A novel of heart stopping suspense" set in modern Nigeria. The title means a child that was born to die - INSCRIBED on the half title page "To - - - for your pursuit of achievable happiness" and dated 1-30-99. Winner of the 1995 Phi Kappa Phi Prize for Fiction, USC. 417 pp. ISBN: 0-9668772-84.
Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 56776More details Price: $20.00 -
THE EMERGENCE OF AFRICAN FICTION.
Edition: Revised edition.
Bloomington, IN and London: Indiana University Press, (1972.) dj. Hardcover - Described as the first comprehensive study of the African novel, illustrating what is particularly different about African fiction and showing that the Western literary is irrelevant to the contributions being made by modern African writers - including Chinua Achebe and Amos Tutuola (Nigeria), James Ngugi (Kenya), Peter Abrahams (South Africa), Camara Laye (Guinea) and others. Foreword by Newton P. Stallknecht. Map frontispiece. Notes, selected bibliography, index. 305 pp. ISBN: 0-253-319455.
Condition: Ex-library with the usual markings, but overall tight and clean in a near fine dust jacket (peeled spot near bottom of dj spine.)
Book ID: 42855More details Price: $15.00 -
THE RADIANCE OF THE KING.
Edition: First thus- a pocket paperback.
New York: Collier, 1971. Novel by this author who was born in French Guinea, Introduction by Albert S. Gerard, translated by James Kirkup. 253 pp
Condition: Very good- (notes inside covers in ink, otherwise a tight copy).
Book ID: 46591More details Price: $8.50 -
THE LAUGHING CRY, an African Cock and Bull Story.
Edition: First English language edition.
New York: Reader's International, 1987. dj. Hardcover first edition - Translated by Gerald Moore. A brilliant & ferocious burlesque of the supreme African dictator by this Congolese writer, winner of the French Grand Prix Litteraire de l'Afrique Noire.
Condition: NF/G (corners slightly bumped, and the front cover of the dj has been torn along the spine and at the front fold with associated creasing.)
Book ID: 3899More details Price: $12.50 -
KINTU.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
Oakland, CA: Transit Books, 2017. First edition - An award-winning debut - "The year is 1750. As he makes his way to the capital to pledge allegiance to the new leader of the Buganda Kingdom, Kintu Kidda unleashes a curse that will plague his family for generations. As the centuries pass, the tale moves down the bloodline, exploring the lives of four of Kintu Kidda's descendants. . . Blending Ganda oral tradition, myth, folktale and history, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi has brought to life an extraordinarily colourful cast of characters to produce a powerful epic and a modern classic." First published in Kenya in 2014, winner of the Kwani Manuscript Prize, longlisted for the Etisalat Prize for African fiction. Introduction by Aaron Bady. viii, 443 pp.
Condition: Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 88058More details Price: $25.00 -
PART OF MY SOUL WENT WITH HIM
Edition: Trade paperback.
New York: Norton, 1985. Photographs. ISBN: 0-393-302903.
Condition: Part of the text is highlighted, underlined.
Book ID: 6957More details Price: $10.00 -
ZENZELE: A Letter for My Daughter.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Crown, (1996). Hardcover first edition - The author's first book - a novel "written as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, . . reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before. Interweaving history and memories, disappointments and dreams, Zenzele tells the tales of Zimbabwe's struggle for independence and the men and women who shaped it: Zenzele's father, an outspoken activist lawyer; her aunt, a schoolteacher by day and secret guerrilla fighter by night; and her cousin, a maid and a spy." Small format. 194 pp. ISBN: 0-517702428.
Condition: Near fine in a fine dust jacket. (crease to corner of rear endpaper)
Book ID: 74547More details Price: $15.00 -
BATOUALA.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1922. Hardcover first edition - One of the greatest works to come out of colonial Africa, this is also one of the first novels to depict Africans as they really were, and to reveal the smoldering hatred of the African and the white colonialists for each other. Winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1922 (Maran was the first Black writer to win this award). Translated from the French by Adele Szold Seltzer. 207 pp. ISBN: 0-87953-006.
Condition: Very good in dark green cloth with gilt lettering on spine and front cover (some rubbing to lettering on spine, bit of wear to spine ends, and small stamp on title page, but overall a tight and clean copy.) No dust jacket.
Book ID: 88161More details Price: $65.00 -
BATOUALA.
Edition: Book of the Month Club edition.
Washington, D.C.: Black Orpheus Press, 1972. dj. Hardcover - One of the greatest works to come out of colonial Africa, this is also one of the first novels to depict Africans as they really were, and to reveal the smoldering hatred of the African and the white colonialists for each other. Originally published in 1921 in France, it won the Prix Goncourt in 1922 (Maran was the first Black writer to win this award). In 1938, the definitive edition was published in France, and this is the first US appearance of a translation of that edition. Translated by Barbara Beck and Alexandre Mboukou. Introduction by Donald E. Herdeck and a preface to the 1938 edition by Maran. Map endpapers. ISBN: 0-87953-006.
Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 18933More details Price: $35.00 -
EBONY DUST.
Edition: First or early printing.
Condition: Very good overall in illustrated, stapled black wrappers (stain inside front cover and affecting the title page and several other pages - thru the table of contents)
Book ID: 86426More details Price: $375.00 -
THE WANDERERS.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Macmillan, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - Second novel, and fifth book, by this South African born writer - who, like the main character in this novel, was forced to leave South Africa, and taught for several years in Nigeria. A powerful story about outcasts on their own continent, Africans both black and white, in search of a home they cannot find. Striking dustjacket design by digeorge.
Condition: Near fine in very good dust jacket (some wear to dj at top of spine, price-clipped.)
Book ID: 22820More details Price: $40.00 -
DOWN SECOND AVENUE.
Edition: Paperback original - first printing.
New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1971. First edition - Growing Up in a South African Ghetto - The first US publication of this autobiography of a black South African "describing the struggle for human dignity in the quagmire of poverty, violence and apartheid" originally published in 1959. Includes a long introduction by the author. xxvi, 210 pp.
Condition: Good only (some wear to covers, previous owner's name, usual toning to pages)
Book ID: 86038More details Price: $12.00 -
SOUNDS OF A COWHIDE DRUM: Poems.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: The Third Press / Joseph Okpaku Publishing Co., (1972.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Collection of poems by this South African, a Zulu born in Natal, who lived in Soweto, and wrote in English. Foreword by Nadine Gordimer. Illustrated with drawings 79 pp. ISBN: 0-89388-0345.
Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket (stamp on front endpaper saying that this was an employee copy,)
Book ID: 57745More details Price: $25.00 -
BEFORE THE BIRTH OF THE MOON.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: Simon & Schuster, (1989) dj. Hardcover first edition - Second novel by this highly acclaimed writer from Zaire, and his first work of fiction to be published in the US. Translated from the French by Marjolijn de Jager. Foreword by Jacques Howlett. Author's note. 203 pp. ISBN: 0-671-675664.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 58624More details Price: $25.00 -
HUNGRY FLAMES and Other Black Africa Short Stories.
Edition: Trade paperback.
Longman, (1994m c 1986). Collects 15 stories by some of South Africa's best writers including Alex La Guma, Bessie Head and others, edited and with an introduction by Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane. A title in the Longman African Writers series. Notes on contributors, select bibliography. xxvi 162 pp. ISBN: 0-582785901.
Condition: Good overall in glossy illustrated wrappers. ('used book' stamped on first page, remainder line, some wear to covers)
Book ID: 88726More details Price: $14.50 -
FOOLS AND OTHER STORIES.
Edition: First US printing.
New York & London: Reader's International, 1986. dj. Hardcover first edition - First book by this young South African writer, a collection of 5 stories that deal with the hardships of life in the urban townships of South Africa. Originally published in South Africa, where it was the winner of the s1984 NOMA Award, the continent's highest literary award. ISBN: 0-930523-199.
Condition: Near fine in a fine dust jacket (the usual toning to the pages found in this publisher's editions.)
Book ID: 27175More details Price: $25.00 -
FOREIGN GODS, INC.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
Condition: Near fine in illustrated wrappers (toning to pages)
Book ID: 82134More details Price: $18.50 -
MATING BIRDS
Edition: First US printing.
New York: St Martin's, (1986.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Exiled South African writer's first novel, a story of apartheid - a young black man facing execution for the 'rape' of a white woman looks back on the events leading to these last few days of his life Praise from Coetze & Gordimer (who referred to his 'awesome passion.. depth of feeling, the authority of experience and the skill to sustain it.'). ISBN: 0-312-522959.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 6249More details Price: $25.00 -
MATING BIRDS
Edition: First US printing.
New York: St Martin's, (1986.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Exiled South African writer's first novel, a story of apartheid - a young black man facing execution for the 'rape' of a white woman looks back on the events leading to these last few days of his life Praise from Coetze & Gordimer (who referred to his 'awesome passion.. depth of feeling, the authority of experience and the skill to sustain it.'). ISBN: 0-312-522959.
Condition: Near fine in a very good dustjacket (rem line, closed tear.)
Book ID: 6250More details Price: $12.50 -
MATING BIRDS
Edition: Trade paperback.
New York: St Martin's, 1986. Exiled South African writer's first novel, a story of apartheid. Praise from Coetze & Gordimer.
Condition: Near fine.
Book ID: 13205More details Price: $9.00 -
AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES.
Edition: First printing.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket.
Book ID: 88669More details Price: $30.00 -
EAST AFRICAN WHY? STORIES.
Edition: First printing.
(Nairobi, Kenya): East African Publishing House, (1966.). First edition - Edited by Cynthia Hunter and Robin Fawcett. Illustrated with single color pictures (blue, red, green, etc.) by Terry Hirst. The author's first book for children, stories collected when she was a child living near Lake Nyanza in Kenya. East African Junior Library No. 1. An appealing small booklet, written at a level for a young child just beginning to read English. 44 pp.
Condition: Fine in stapled wrappers.
Book ID: 29723More details Price: $20.00 -
EAST AFRICAN HOW? STORIES.
Edition: First printing.
(Nairobi, Kenya): East African Publishing House, (1966.). First edition - Edited by Cynthia Hunter and Robin Fawcett. Illustrated with single color pictures (blue, red, green, etc.) by Terry Hirst. The author's second book for children, stories collected when she was a child living near Lake Nyanza in Kenya. East African Junior Library No. 2. An appealing small booklet, written at a level for a young child just beginning to read English. 44 pp.
Condition: Fine in stapled wrappers.
Book ID: 29724More details Price: $20.00 -
TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN LITERATURE: Yale French Studies #53.
Edition: First appearance in print of these works.
New Haven,CN: Yale University, 1976. First edition - Includes articles on the genesis of African folkloric literature, on the image of women in folklore, on writers such as Kane, Mongo Beti, Ouologuem, Soyinka and two essays on Aime Cesaire. Although the writers discussed wrote in French, all articles in this journal are in English. 212 pages.
Condition: Very good - tight & unworn, but with light staining on corners. Uncommon.
Book ID: 23180More details Price: $30.00 -
THE VOICE.
Edition: First paperback printing.
London: Collins / Fontana Press, (1973). Nigerian author's ground-breaking first novel - a "linguistic experiment in which Okara translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend." (Britannica) 96 pp. ISBN: 0-006131549.
Condition: Ex-library with remnants of label inside front cover, usual toning to pages, but overall good condition. Uncommon.
Book ID: 86226More details Price: $10.00 -
SONGS OF ENCHANTMENT.
Edition: Uncorrected proof (trade paperback format. )
New York: Doubleday, 1993. First edition - Sequel to Okri's Booker Prize winner novel, 'The Famished Road.' Although the cover indicates Doubleday as the US publisher, this advance issue is printed from the sheets of the first edition in the UK with Jonathan Cape shown on the title page.
Condition: Fine in printed wrappers.
Book ID: 14211More details Price: $30.00 -
SONGS OF ENCHANTMENT.
Edition: First US printing.
New York: Doubleday, (1993.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Sequel to Okri's Booker Prize winner novel, 'The Famished Road.' A magical novel of a nation struggling to be born. 297 pp. ISBN: 0-385-471548.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 53288More details Price: $20.00 -
SONGS OF ENCHANTMENT.
Edition: First printing.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1993. dj. Hardcover first edition - Sequel to Okri's Booker Prize winner novel, 'The Famished Road.' A magical novel of a nation struggling to be born. ISBN: 0-224-036300.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 22499More details Price: $30.00