CANDLE-LIGHTIN' TIME, Paul Dunbar 1st/1st, 1901 African American SOUTH Photos

  CANDLE-LIGHTIN' TIME, by Paul Laurence Dunbar — 1st Edition, 1st Printing 1901 — Post Civil War African American SOUTHERN Poetry, Photography — Rare

 Publisher: Dodd, Mead and Co., New York (1901)

First edition, first printing of the beautiful and rare "Candle-Lightin' Time." A collection of poems, many written in African-American dialect of the antebellum South, written by late 19th/early 20th century African-American poet and writer Paul Laurence Dunbar. Some photographs depict former slaves during the Post-Reconstruction period of the Civil War. Illustrated with photographs by the Hampton Institute Camera Club, and with stunning decorations by Margaret Armstrong. 

The book is in overall excellent condition. Green boards with beautiful art nouveau decorations on front, and gilt lettering and decorations on front and on spine. The boards and binding are solid and tight, with very little shelf-wear. The pages and photographs are crisp, clean and present vivid detailing of the aspects of sharecropper life in both word and photos. There is a spot of foxing on the first blank page, and a small crease to bottom of the frontispiece and title page. A rare and unique look at African American life in both poetry and original, rare photographs during the post Civil War. A beautiful book, all the way around.