North Star Shining: A Pictorial History of the American Negro

William Morrow & Co, New York, 1947. Edition Unstated. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Near Fine Condition/Very Good. Illustrator: Lynd Ward. Book The copyright notice only lists the 1947 publication date, but the price on the dust jacket is $4.50 rather than the $2.50 which seems to have been the price for the first printing. From the blurb on the front flap: "In the minds of some people the history of Negro Americans begins with chained men in slave ships and ends with field hands in the South or Pullman porters in the North. The important role, sometimes tragic, often heroic, played by Negroes in our history is omitted. The great contributions being made by Negro men and women today are ignored. Mrs. Swift's sensitive words and Lynd Ward's dramatic paintings, illustrating each page of text, create in 'North Star Shining' the whole picture. . . . Here are Negro heroes of World War II. To one of them, Captain Clarence W. Griggs, killed in action on Okinawa, this book is dedicated." This book includes a provenance card stating it is from the collection of Lynd Ward’s long-time friend Dan Burne Jones. Jones was a fellow artist whose own work was influenced by Ward and Rockwell Kent. He built a collection of Ward-illustrated books for the creation of a bibliography (apparently unpublished but in a collection of Ward material in the Penn State archives). A collection of papers about Ward and Kent written and gathered by Jones is held by the Smithsonian Institution. Size: Small Quarto (9-11"). 46 pages. Item Type: Book. The text block is tight, bright and unmarked. It features 20 full page illustrations by Lynd Ward, alternating between black & white and full-color. Near Fine hardcover bound in dark blue cloth over boards with a plain spine and a pastedown of the title and illustration from the dust jacket on the front cover. There is minimal shelf wear at the head and foot of the spine and bottom corners. Very Good Plus unclipped ($4.50) dust jacket. There is a bump at the head of the front flap and two small closed tears with a slight crease at the top edge and one at the bottom edge of the rear panel. The dust jacket is now protected in a clear archival Brodart sleeve. The only defect are two 3" vertical marks on the front free endpaper where something that was glued to the page has been removed with some surface loss. It looks like what a library card holder might leave, but there are no marks anywhere else in the book. Illustrator: Lynd Ward. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Biography & Autobiography; African Americans -- Poetry; United States; 1940s; History. Main Picture: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Front panel and spine of the dust jacket. Picture 2: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Rear panel of the dust jacket and page edges. Picture 3: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Front cover with pastedown title and spine. Picture 4: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Rear cover and page edges. Picture 5: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Title page with copyright inset. Picture 6: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Sample two-page spread with color illustration by Lynd Ward. Picture 7: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Sample two-page spread with black & white illustration by Lynd Ward (Crispus Attucks). Picture 8: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Sample two-page spread with color illustration by Lynd Ward. Picture 9: Hildegarde & Ward (Illus.) (1947), North Star Shining - Dust jacket. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1373. .