Arcana:

(HUGHES, LANGSTON) (KAUFFER, E. McKNIGHT). Hughes, Langston & E. McKnight Kauffer. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1942. First Edition. 8vo. Cloth in Illustrated Jacket. Illustrated Book. Very Good/Good +. 128pp, 13 monochrome illustrations + duotone cover. "Shakespeare in Harlem" is literary titan Langston Hughes' 1942 prose collection that explores the state of American race relations as the US enters the war against the Axis powers in Europe. Interspersed throughout the sixty-two works are E. McKnight Kauffer's sympathetic, sepia-toned portraits of Harlem residents - Hughes' neighbors. An otherwise internally handsome example of the 1942 first Alfred A. Knopf edition showing some mild age-toning to the sulfurous wartime paper stock, a small stain on the foredge of the textblock, a margin of insect damage to the pastedown on the inside rear cover, and the original owner's vintage Rockwell Kent bookplate affixed to the inside front board. The dramatic, brittle E. McKnight Kauffer-illustrated dust jacket is complete though slightly browned along the spine and rear panel, and shows some creasing, wear, and tiny closed tears along the edges of the front cover along with some tape reinforcement on the verso of the top and bottom edges. All in all, this is a most presentable copy of this striking collaboration that looks far nicer in hand than it describes that has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 026266