Letter from Birmingham City Jail

KING, Jr., Martin Luther

Verlag: American Friends Service Committee, (Philadelphia), 1963

Beschreibung

Octavo, 15pp. Second printing, noting just the first printing below the printing code on the verso. A very good or better copy in the publisher's stapled wraps. Some faint, but visible droplet stains to verso, and the original owner's surname in ink on the front wrap (with effaced 25-cent inked price barely noticeable immediately next to same). Else a crisp, clean, well-preserved example. This is the first separate publication of Martin Luther King's first major, comprehensive manifesto which explicitly called for the breaking of unjust laws and the the cost of silence and compromise. Penned in response to a letter signed by eight Birmingham-area clergymen urging King and his supporters to keep their protests to a minimum and strictly obey the law, King here uses, for the first time, phrases such as "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and "justice too long delayed is justice denied." The letter, dated April 16, 1963, was printed in part in some newspapers in May, but this, as far as we can tell, is the first separate publication, dated in May in the printer's code on the rear wrap. (Miller / Bibliography of the Negro in America notes the first appearance as the June 12, 1963 edition of Christian Century. This publication would seem to predate that one). Scarce in commerce. The first printing has become extremely expensive, now out of reach for many collectors. This second printing, with a similarly small print run, is similarly scarce in the trade, and an appealing alternative. An important ephemeral document of American Civil Rights history. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 11882

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Verlag: American Friends Service Committee, (Philadelphia)

Erscheinungsdatum: 1963

Einband: Staplebound

Zustand: Very good +

Auflage: Second printing.