Signed First Edition of Pauli Murray's Dark Testament, In Jacket

Pauli Murray. DARK TESTAMENT AND OTHER POEMS. Norwalk, CT: Silvermine Publishers Incorporated, [1970]. First edition. Signed boldly in blue by Murray on the first free endpaper. Hardcover issue (simultaneously published in paperback). Cream cloth-covered boards with black lettering, in original red, white, and blue unclipped ($4.95) dust jacket. Thin 8vo; [13], 106pp. with index.

8 1/2 x 5 1/4 in.

From a Private North Carolina Collection

Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was an activist, author, lawyer, and Episcopal priest who grew up in Durham, North Carolina. Their hometown is now the location of The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, and a large mural in nearby Hillsborough was painted in 2023 to celebrate Murray's life and career. S/he had an important influence on the civil rights movement, especially through their essays, poems, and legal writing. Dark Testament and Other Poems is Murray's only published collection of poetry. Its title poem was written in 1943 while they were a law student at Howard University. The book is surprisingly uncommon; this is its third known appearance at auction.

Boards slightly and uniformly yellowed with a very minor area of grime and light rubbing to spine ends; some creasing to front paste-down; a few leaves with light glue residue at page edges and a rare mark or spot of light grime, otherwise a pristine interior; the jacket with some edge and spine toning, general scuffing and rubbing, a spot of grime to the interior, the edges with some chips and tears (the largest 1 1/8-in.), and with a small loss to the back cover. Very good plus in an approaching very good jacket.