The Ballad of the Brown Girl by Cullen, Countee - 1927: An Old Ballad Retold

Harper & Bros, 1927. hardcover. Good. 0x0x0. New York, 1927; yellow cloth covered boards; brown spine and corners; corner and edge wear; covers lightly scuffed; 4to - over 9 3/4" to 12" tall; Interior is clean and unmarked; Previous owner's name on front paste-down; Interior is clean and unmarked; 11 pages.

NY: Harper & Brothers, 1927. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/None. Hardcover, black cloth spine with yellow paper boards, black cloth tips on corners. Chipped paper label with title on spine. Covers have some toning and soiling but the volume is square with only light wear otherwise. Cullen's version of the famous English ballad, "The Brown Girl." Attractive production, with b&w illustrations by Cullen's brother. Record # 378545

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927. First edition. Octavo. (8), 11, (1)pp. Unopened. Quarter black cloth with paper spine label over yellow boards. Title and each leaf of text within a woodcut border. Illustrated with one double-page plate. The boards are soiled and the paper spine is a bit chipped. Though internally clean and unopened, this copy lacks the original slipcase. Countee Cullen uses the traditional structure of the medieval ballad to retell a legend about an English lord who must choose between a Black bride and a white one, with deadly results. In a letter, the author described the poem as "quite a gruesome affair with no less than three murders in it. It is founded on an old song which every colored Kentuckian knows." (OCLC) Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was an African-American poet and part of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1925 he won the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize and this book is dedicated to Witter Bynner.

Harper & Brothers, New York., 1927. First edition. Royal octavo. pp [viii], 11. Decorations and double-page plate by Charles Cullen. Cloth-backed yellow paper boards. A poem by one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Fine in the publishers' card slipcase which is rubbed and defective.