New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2004.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Nigerian-born author's powerful first novel, the story of a teenage Elvis impersonator living in a sprawling slum of Lagos. Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award. 321 pp. ISBN: 0-374-165890.

New York: Simon & Schuster, (1991.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A young boy follows a trail on "Summertime Island" to the edge of the sea, through hollows filled with buttercups, blueberries and rabbits, to tide pools, sand dunes and crashing waves, a derelict boat half-buried in the sand and finally to fish cooking over a campfire - Although this is a universal story, the dedication refers to "the lures of Nantucket" and the award-winning artist Brian Pinkney who illustrates this with his striking scratchboard paintings depicts the young boy as African American. The simple text will appeal to children and to all who remember summertime explorations. Large format, bound in glossy illustrated boards, unpaginated. ISBN: 0-671734091.

New York: Simon & Schuster, (1991.). A young boy follows a trail on "Summertime Island" to the edge of the sea, through hollows filled with buttercups, blueberries and rabbits, to tide pools, sand dunes and crashing waves, a derelict boat half-buried in the sand and finally to fish cooking over a campfire - Although this is a universal story, the dedication refers to "the lures of Nantucket" and the award-winning artist Brian Pinkney who illustrates this with his striking scratchboard paintings depicts the young boy as African American. The simple text will appeal to children and to all who remember summertime explorations. Large format, unpaginated. Selected as a 1991 Golden Kite Honor Book. ISBN: 0-671-796178.

New York: Henry Holt, (1994.). Anthology containing the works of over 100 modern American poets, including Martin Espada, Paul Beatty, Sapphire, Ntozake Shange, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Luis Rodriguez, Eileen Myles, Wanda Coleman, Thulani Davis, Victor Hernadez Cruz, Patricia Spears Jones, David Henderson, Sandra Maria Esteves, Patricia Smith, Luis J. Rodriguez and many others. The selected works were all first performed at New York City's Nuyorkian Poets' Cafe --- founded by poets Miguel Algarin, Miguel Pinero, and others. 1994 American Book Award Winner. Notes on the poets, 514 pp. ISBN: 0-8050-32576.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972. dj. Hardcover - Based on Schulberg's time spent with Ali's entourage in the months leading up to the Frazier fight, this is described as "uncompromising look at an uncompromising sport." Illustrated with photographs. Very early printing with code of N14 on last page, indicating a 1972 printing date. 158 pp,

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, (1991). First edition - An ethnomusicological study of the black 'spiritual entertainment' tradition in music, this is based on field recordings and interviews with dozens of local New York singers to tell the story of sacred quartet singing in New York City's African-American church community, as it evolved from 'a cappela' jubilee quartets in the 1920s to the exuberant gospel quartets of the 1950s and the smooth contemporary groups of the 1980s. It formed a symbolic bridge between the rural south and the realities of the urban north. A publication of the American Folklore Society. Photographs, notes at the end of each chapter, bibliography, index. xx, 268 pp. ISBN: 0-812213319.

New York: Schwartz & Wade Books (2008) dj. First edition - A poem first read by Maya Angelou at the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 2005 - "it is Christmas time, a halting of hate time" - illustrated with beautiful full color illustrations, each spreading over a page and a half, by Johnson and Fancher. Oblong format. Unpaginated.

New York: Gomme & Marshall, 1915. Hardcover first edition - In addition to including works by many poets: Wallace Stevens (Peter Quince at the Clavier), Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken and others), Sara Teasdale, Edward Arlington Robinson, James Weldon Johnson and Amy Lowell, to name only a few - this book is also a yearbook of poetry for 1915 and it includes information on poetry books published that year, the contributors, and on magazines which publish poetry. Braithwaite, an African American poet himself, was the foremost American poetry anthologist of his time.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. These books are notable for the amount of good - and interesting -writing compressed into one volume. Includes stories by Tobias Wolff, Donna Tartt, Alice Munro, Mary Gaitskill, Yiyun Li and more. Brief biographies of the contributors. Edited and with introductions by Patchett and Katrina Kennison, series editor. Includes contributors' notes and list of 100 other distinguished stories of 2005. xxii, 388 pp. ISBN: 0-618-54352X.

New York: Anchor Books, (1996.). SIGNED - In addition to the prizewinners - with Stephen King winning first prize for 'The Man in the Black Suit' , this also includes stories by Akhil Sharma, William Hoffman, Joyce Carol Oates, T. J. McNally, Daniel Menaker, Alice Adams, Jane Smiley, Walter Mosley and more. SIGNED by Akhil Sharma at "If You Sing Like That for Me" (his first publiched story) Introduction by Abrahams. Biographical notes and comments by the authors. 387 pp. ISBN: 0-385-481829.

New York: Anchor Books, (1996.). SIGNED first edition - In addition to the prizewinners - with Stephen King winning first prize for 'The Man in the Black Suit' , this also includes stories by Akhil Sharma, William Hoffman, Joyce Carol Oates, T. J. McNally, Alice Adams, Jane Smiley, and more. SIGNED by TWO authors at their stories: Sharma at "If You Sing Like That for Me" (his first publiched story) and Mosley at "The Thief." Introduction by Abrahams. Biographical notes and comments by the authors. 387 pp. ISBN: 0-385-481829.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. SIGNED first edition - These books are notable for the amount of good - and interesting -writing compressed into one volume. Includes stories by Amy Bloom, Raymond Carver, Walter Mosley , Jhumpa Lahiri, Ha Jin, Ron Carlson, Junot Diaz, Z Z Packer, Percival Everett and more. SIGNED by TWO authors at their stories: Ron Carlson at his story 'The Ordinary Son' and Walter Mosley at "Pet Fly." Brief biographies of the contributors. Edited and with an ntroduction by E. :L Doctorow. Katrina Kennison, series editor. Includes contributors' notes and list of 100 other distinguished stories of 1999. 381 pp. ISBN: 0-395-926866.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. SIGNED first edition - These books are notable for the amount of good - and interesting -writing compressed into one volume. Includes stories by Amy Bloom, Raymond Carver, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ha Jin, Ron Carlson, Junot Diaz and more. SIGNED by Walter Mosley at his story 'Pet Fly.' Brief biographies of the contributors. Edited and with an ntroduction by E. :L Doctorow. Katrina Kennison, series editor. Includes contributors' notes and list of 100 other distinguished stories of 1999. 381 pp. ISBN: 0-395-926866.

Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company, (1995.). SIGNED - An anthology which "relates the newcomer's experience in prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama." Includes selections by such diverse writers as Joseph Bruchac (on Ellis Island), Jamaica Kincaid, Claude McKay, Amy Tan, Richard Rodriguez, W. S. Merwin, Frank Chin, Langston Hughes and more. SIGNED and dated by Frank Chin at this contribution. Glossary, index. 326 pp. ISBN: 0-8442-56277.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. SIGNED first edition - These books are notable for the amount of good - and interesting -writing compressed into one volume. Includes stories by Dorothy Allison, Louise Erdrich, Edwidge Danticat, E. L. Doctorow, Z. Z. Packer and more. SIGNED by THREE authors at their stories: Susan Straight (Mines), Edwidge Danticat (Night Talkers) and Mona Simpson (Coins.) Brief biographies of the contributors. Edited and with introductions by Mosley and Katrina Kennison, series editor. Includes contributors' notes and list of 100 other distinguished stories of 2002. xv, 360 pp. ISBN: 0-618-197338.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. SIGNED first edition - These books are notable for the amount of good - and interesting -writing compressed into one volume. Includes stories by Dorothy Allison, Louise Erdrich, Edwidge Danticat, E. L. Doctorow, Z. Z. Packer and more. SIGNED by TWO authors at their stories: Susan Straight (Mines) and Edwidge Danticat (Night Talkers) Brief biographies of the contributors. Edited and with introductions by Mosley and Katrina Kennison, series editor. Includes contributors' notes and list of 100 other distinguished stories of 2002. xv, 360 pp. ISBN: 0-618-197338.

New York: Da Capo Press - Perseus Books, (2009.). SIGNED first edition - An anthology that includes work ranging from animal stories of the Northwest Coast Eyaks to African-American folklore to reflections on the American Muslim experience. Includes contributions from both well-know writers like Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, Russell Banks, and Zora Neale Hurston to newly discovered writers of all races, genders, and backgrounds. Among the 60 authors are Chester Himes, Robert Coover, Bharati Mukherjee, Benjamin Franklin, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Ntozake Shange, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Mark Twain, Grace Paley, Russell Charles Leong, Charles Wright, James Alan McPherson, and many more. SIGNED by Lucha Corpi and Cecil Brown at their contributions. Foreword by Reed, notes on contributors. xxvii, 505 pp. ISBN: 9781568583426.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. dj. SIGNED first edition - Contains twenty-one short stories selected and with an introduction by Ravenel. SIGNED by Charles Johnson at his story, "Exchange Value." Other authors include Peter Taylor, Donald Barthelme,Cynthia Ozick, Robert Coover, Raymond Carver, John Updike,Ursula Le Guin, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Bowles, Russell Banks, Wright Morris, Charles Baxter, Joy Williams ,Susan Sontag, Tim O'Brien, Mavis Gallant, Robert Stone, Baharati Mukherjee and Alice Munro. xvii, 393 pp. ISBN: 0-395-522234.

New York: Broadway Books, (1997.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A definitive biography of this giant among jazz musicians - based on previously unexplored archives of Armstrong's writings. Photographs, discography, bibliography, endnotes, index. 564 pp. ISBN: 0-553-067680.

New York: The Quantuck Lane Press, (2003) dj. Hardcover first edition - A photographic look at Harlem's disappearing landscape, as it becomes more gentrified and more "sanitized." Illustrated with almost 100 full color, full page and very evocative photographs. Introduction by Robin D.G. Kelley Large square format. 120 pp. ISBN: 0-971454876.

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, (2009) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A first hand account of the early days of America's civil rights struggle. Inspired by the actions of the four black college students who refused to leave the whites-only lunch counter of a Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's on February 1, 1960, D'Army Bailey, the freshman class president at Southern University - the largest predominantly black college in the nation - joined with his classmates in their battle against segregation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Now a circuit court judge in Tennessee, this is a look at the years that changed America and shaped his life. Warmly INSCRIBED by Bailey on the half title page. Foreword by Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated with photographs, index. xiv, 257 pp. ISBN: 978-0807134764.

Charleston, WV: Parchment Gallery Graphics, 1996. SIGNED first edition - Broadside poem; a single sheet, printed on recto only, measuring 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, containing an illustration and text by Amiri Baraka. Issued in conjunction with an exhibition of Baraka's "painted poems," this depicts an African-American man, in a brimmed, printed in magenta, blacks, greens and browns, with the text "Suppose you wanted to know the truth about everythigng" Limited to 199 numbered copies and 26 hors de commerce copies - this a one of the 26 copies labeled p/p SIGNED by Amiri Baraka.

Charleston, WV: Parchment Gallery Graphics, nd (1996). SIGNED first edition - Broadside poem; a single sheet, printed on recto only, measuring 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, containing an illustration and text by Amiri Baraka. Issued in conjunction with an exhibition of Baraka's "painted poems," this depicts an African-American man, wearing a beret, printed in soft blues, blacks, greens and browns, with the text "Don't ever be sad enough not to believe in whatever makes you beautiful." Limited to 199 numbered copies (out of a total edition of 225) each individually numbered and SIGNED by Amiri Baraka.

Jamaica, Queens, New York: Q-BORO Books, (2008). SIGNED first edition - "Three young women trying to make it the only way they want to... . the easy way out will be the life-altering lesson that can make or break them." SIGNED on the half title page. 256 pp. ISBN: 1933967420.

New York: Ace Books, (1984). SIGNED - INSCRIBED on the title page and dated in 1985. Novel by this African American science fiction writer - a dystopian view of the near future, where Los Angeles has become a war-zone. 310 pp. Cover art by Barclay Shaw. ISBN: 0-812-510348.

San Francisco: Fearon Publishers, (1957.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - An unusual work for Ruth Bernard (published just a few years after she moved to San Francisco, where she spent the rest of her life): a photo-essay on San Francisco's cable cars and the people who ride them, narrated by young cable car gripman Melvin Van, with unposed black and white photographs by Bernhard on every page. The first book (written when he was just 25) by the independent African American film director and producer, Melvin Van Peebles. SIGNED on the front endpaper by Bernhard with the words "to one who knows" and dated January 24, 1958. A rather uncommon book, and especially so signed by Bernhard. Slightly oversized format, 10 1/4 inches tall by 7 3/16 inches wide. 78 pp.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966. A listing of over 3,500 books, documents and articles, mostly published after 1954., arranged topically, and including an index of authors. Foreword by Thomas Pettigrew. 190 pages.

Columbia, South Carolina, The R. L. Bryan Company, (1976.) dj. Hardcover - Introduction by Dr. Julian K. Quattlebaum on the Gullah dialect, which was found along the southern coast on the remote Sea Islands and coastal lands, from South Carolina to the northern part of Florida. The author, J. Gary Black collected stories on the South Carolina islands of Hilton Head, Daufuskie, and St. Helena between the 1920's and 1970 as a tax collector for Beaufort County, South Carolina. SIGNED on the front endpaper. Illustrated by Nancy Ricker Webb. xii, 50 pp.

Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, (1990.). Candid interviews with sixteen black Americans and twelve white Americans starting in 1968, with most interviewed again in 1979 and 1986. These interviews capture the racial tensions of the late 1960's and the changing perspectives of the 70's and 80's - some are encouraging; others are often angry or disillusioned accounts of failed promises, misunderstandings, and lost opportunities. This trade paperback edition includes two new essays by the author - 'The Author's Story' and 'Where Are the People Now.' Also includes an appendix with the methodology used, notes, and a bibliographic essay. 364 pp. ISBN: 0-520069501.