Eneas Africanus
Book Club of Texas, 1930. Limited Edition.
Limited Edition. 8vo; Textured paper-covered boards with paper label on cover printed in blue and red ink. Housed in black slipcase with paper spine label. Printed by the Marchbanks press for The Book Club of Texas. One of 300 copies, of which this is #130; [48]pp. Small brown mark on pastedown endpaper and another small smudge on the first page of the opening letter. The tail of the spine is pulling away slightly from the boards. Otherwise it is quite beautiful and square. The slipcase is good only, it has a significant chip at the head of the spine, exposing its construction, and a similar smaller chip at the tail. The paper spine label is somewhat irregular in shape but it is unclear if any loss occurred or if it was cut this way, it appears to have some discoloration.
A series of fictional letters and other texts, opening with a public letter by Confederate officer, Major George E. Tommey, requesting information on the whereabouts of a black enslaved man, Eneas. What follows are responses from across Georgia to Tommey describing their encounters with Eneas and the slave's eventual return to his master. First published in 1919, Edwards's story was one of the most popular pro-slavery texts in American history. Shameless perpetuation of American history's biggest sins.
Price: $60.00