(CROMWELL LIBRARY) Casely Hayford The Truth about the West A

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GIFT FROM ONE FORMERLY ENSLAVED SCHOLAR TO ANOTHER (CROMWELL LIBRARY.) Casely Hayford. The Truth about the West African Land Question. [8], 203, [11] including publisher's ads. 8vo, publisher's gilt cloth, minimal wear; minimal wear to contents, a few pencil notes; gift inscription by John E. Bruce on front free endpaper. London: C.M. Phillips, 1913

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First edition. This book is most notable for its gift inscription, from one highly distinguished man who had risen from slavery to another. John Edward Bruce (1856-1924) was a Pan-Africanist historian who helped Arthur Schomburg found what is now the Schomburg Library. He inscribed it "To my good friend John Wesley Cromwell, 'Old Reliable,' with best wishes, John E. Bruce 'Grit', Yonkers, N.Y., 11/8/13." Above that inscription, Cromwell has written "Read it."

In the rear of the book are press notices for another book by Hayford, Ethiopia Unbound. They include a half-page review credited to John Edward Bruce. Cromwell has bracketed the review in pencil and noted in the margin (with an almost audible huff) "Written by J.W.C."

Provenance: family of John Wesley Cromwell (1846-1927) through his daughter Otelia Cromwell (1874-1972), a noted literary scholar; granddaughter Adelaide M. Cromwell (1919-2019), an important sociologist.