The History of My Life and Work: Autobiography

Raleigh, NC: Rev. M.L. Latta, 1903 [but 1924]. Revised and Expanded Edition. Octavo (23.5cm); dark green cloth titled in gilt on spine, with titles stamped in gilt on front cover within a brown double-ruled border; [viii],[31]-600pp, with a portrait frontispiece of Frederick Douglass and five inserted plates of illustrations (halftones); text is complete, despite the eccentric pagination. Darkening to spine, some wear to extremities and softening to corners, bit of dust-soil to covers, with rear hinge cracked (but holding) and a 1" tear to lower front hinge; contents clean; Very Good.

"An ex-slave in North Carolina who later attended Shaw (truncated) University and then was for many years a schoolteacher writes primarily of his workas head of Latta University in West Raleigh, North Carolina, an institution he founded in 1892. He also tells of his experiences in the Raleigh area and alludes to his visit to England and France" (BRIGNANO 224). While the copyright page gives no indication this edition was published after 1903, Brignano notes a revised and considerably expanded edition published by Latta in 1924, mentioning events in his life after 1903, and printing long essays by Carter G. Woodson and Frederick E. Drinker, adding another 229 pages of content. Uncommon in commerce; OCLC shows 9 holdings for the 1924 edition. Not in Blockson. 84424. (Inventory #: 84424)