Something in Common and Other Stories.

HUGHES, Langston.

$350.00

Item Number: 139752

New York: Hill and Wang, 1963.

First edition, advance reading copy of this collection of thirty-seven of Hughes’ tales, eleven of them appearing in book form for the first time. Octavo, paperback issue, original pictorial wrappers, with the publisher’s slip tipped in which reads, “Compliments of the Author.” From the library of Geoffrey Bridson with his bookplate to the pastedown. In 1965, BBC producer Geoffrey Bridson and Langston Hughes co-produced the now famous nineteen-part BBC series The Negro in America which offered a kaleidoscopic portrait of African-Americans’ contribution to twentieth century culture as well as some raw insights into the Civil Rights struggle that was then rapidly gathering momentum. One of the most memorable episodes in the series explored the subject of African-American writing with Langston Hughes chairing a discussion between Le Roi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka) and James Baldwin, who had just published his celebrated collection of essays about race and one of the most influential works on race relations published in the twentieth century: The Fire Next Time. In near fine condition. Jacket design by Oliver Lundquist.

One of the most celebrated figures of the Harlem Renaissance, poet, novelist and social activist Langston Hughes is widely considered one of the most important American writers of the 20th century. Through his poetry and fiction, Hughes sought not only to portray the experience of working-class blacks in America, but redefine, expand, and celebrate African American identity. This purpose he summed up in a one-sentence summary of his life’s goal in response to a request from Who’s Who in America: “My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America and obliquely that of all human kind” (Rampersand, 418). “More than any other American writer, Langston Hughes brought African American culture and traditions into American literature” (Oxford Encyclopedia, 237). Differing widely in subject, the thirty-seven stories presented in Something in Common and Other Stories present a cross-section of the work of the noted poet and novelist, with each one expressing Hughes' deep concern for humanity in a unique way.