(LITERATURE.) Hughes, Langston. Fine Clothes to the Jew. 89, [1] pages. 8vo, publisher's cloth-backed boards, minor wear; hinges split and text block detached from binding, very faint dampstaining along gutter; worn dust jacket with several chips on front, conserved with tissue; inscribed by the author on front free endpaper: "For my friend Rosamond Johnson, these 'fine clothes,' sincerely, Langston Hughes, Lincoln University, January 31, 1927." New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927
First edition of Hughes's second book, a collection of poems. Inscribed by Hughes on the day before his 25th birthday, while he was still a returning-education sophomore at Lincoln University. The recipient was the great composer J. Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), a much older man, who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Provenance: sold by a granddaughter of Rosamond Johnson to the consignor in January 2013.
