Between the Covers

Hardcover. First edition. Octavo. Red cloth gilt. A little rubbing at the extremities, a couple of leaves a little roughly opened resulting in small nicks at the page edges, else a very near fine copy with the gilt bright. Inscribed by the author shortly after publication on the front pastedown: "To Mr. Joel Chandler Harris with kind wishes of Booker T. Washington, April 14, 1901" and underscored with a flourish. Harris clearly read the book and has scored many passages in pencil.

Harris was impressed with Washington upon hearing him speak at the Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895. Washington in turn admired Chandler's *Uncle Remus* for its symbolic message of wisdom and kindness about blacks, and lauded him (in a letter and a speech) for a series of progressive articles he wrote on race relations published in the *Saturday Evening Post*. In a 1909 letter sent along with a donation for the creation for a Harris memorial, Washington wrote: "It was my pleasure to know him personally. He was one of the best and most helpful friends my race ever had anywhere in the country."

Chandler died in 1908, after which his house "The Wren's Nest" was maintained by his family. In 1913 the family called in a local institution to remove any valuable books, this obviously was not among them. Neither does it appear in the census of his library *The Library of Joel Chandler Harris: An Annotated Checklist* that included both the books that they took, and the books that were left behind at "The Wren's Nest." Our supposition is that Chandler was impressed enough with the book to pass it on to others. A spectacular association copy of an African-American high spot from one *Blockson 101* author to another.

Item #393345