O Canaan!
New York: Doubleday Doran & Co., 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7. Very Good. Item #12952
The second novel by one of the more influential black writers to come out of the later years of the Harlem Renaissance. Turpin's 1st novel, 'These Low Grounds', critically acclaimed and exceedingly scarce novel covering four generations, won him instant literary recognition. "Turpin's novels are what gained him recognition in African American literary history. Turpin's creative abilities were recognized early, and among those encouraging him to write was novelist Edna Ferber, who was the employer of Turpin's mother. "Although Turpin worked on several novels, only three were published. The first, These Low Grounds (1937), set on the eastern shore of Maryland, tells the story of four generations of an African American family. This second novel, 'O Canaan!' (1939), traces the progress of migratory farmers who left the South for Chicago during the depression. "Turpin's third and final published novel, The Rootless (1957), is a historical novel that depicts slave practices in eighteenth-century Maryland."Turpin's eloquent, dramatic, and imaginative writings are accurate portrayals of African American life during the first half of the twentieth century." - Oxford Reference.Brown cloth with gilt title and rules to the spine. the very slightest hint of a slant to spine. BEAUTIFULLY illustrated dust jacket in exquisite condition, with little wear and original $2.50 price intact. Presents handsomely in archival mylar. A superior edition of a rare and important work of the Harlem Renaissance.
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