XO41 The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches

W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches(Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1903)

Penn Libraries, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, E185.5 .D81 1903

In one of his most famous works, W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) reflected on his own position and aspirations as a Black author in America at the turn of the 20th century. This first edition copy is opened to a profound quote in which Du Bois summons Aristotle along with other canonical authors and places himself among them. Unlike the American public, which was deeply divided by race, these great authors “come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension.”