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Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
Morrison, Toni (1931-2019) Sula, first edition.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974.
First edition, octavo; bound in publisher's gilt-stamped bright orange cloth, light green topstain; in the unclipped illustrated dust jacket designed by Wendell Minor (faint spotting to front flyleaf, a small, marginal closed tear at page 5; boards very slightly bowed); 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.
Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison's second book played a pivotal role in establishing Black feminist literary criticism in 1970s America. Living in a tight-knit community dubbed "the Bottom," the protagonist Sula grapples with issues of individualism and self-expression as a Black woman in an intensely collective setting. Sula's struggle against societal constraints is symbolized by a birthmark over her eye, which continues to darken as she matures and increasingly pushes back against society's conventions. Wendell Minor's first edition dust jacket is an moving depiction of Sula's attitude in the novel: standing alone, she directs her intense gaze straight at the viewer, her chin upheld in a gesture of defiant independence.
