Jazz / Beloved / Song of Solomon

Signed. Hardcover. First Edition Thus. First Printing. Fine+. Collection of the great writer's first six novels. The first appearance of the titles in a Uniform Edition format. Published in a relatively small and limited print run. A very handsome production by Barbara de Wilde: Austere gray cloth boards with the initial "M" embossed on each book's cover. Works by Toni Morrison. In metallic-silver titles against black spine, as issued. In elegant, abstract-design hard board slipcase, as issued. The slipcase comes with hard board partitions separating each book within. Presents what is, in effect, the publisher's "celebratory " edition of Toni Morrison's stupendous achievement as a novelist, which made her the first African-American writer to win the Nobel Prize. Because her work is difficult, demanding and often daunting, many of the novels were published in relatively small print runs when they first appeared. Some of them are now milestones in the author's career and in American literature: "The Bluest Eye", her landmark debut novel, was printed in an edition of about 2000 copies and is now virtually impossible to find. Copies of the first edition online command $10, 000. "Song of Solomon" won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977 and remains Morrison's masterpiece. The literary critic Harold Bloom regards it as one of the canonical works of the 20th century. "Beloved" won the Pulitzer Prize For Fiction in 1988. The other novels are "must-reading" for the novelist's admirers and collectors. Even though they are less crucial works, they are genuine achievements nevertheless and Morrison's writing is better than most other contemporary novelists' anyway: "Sula", "Tar Baby" and "Jazz". The literary critic Patricia Storace has summed up her achievement brilliantly: "Toni Morrison is relighting the angles from which we view American history, changing the very color of its shadows, showing whites what they look like in black mirrors. To read her work is to witness something unprecedented, an invitation to a literature to become what it has claimed to be, a truly American literature" (Patricia Storace). A magnificent collection. This set is prominently and beautifully signed in black fountain pen on the title page of each volume by the author. Toni Morrison signed every single volume in the set, especially "The Bluest Eye", the most collectible title in the collection. Signed Toni Morrisons escalate very rapidly in value and this will be no exception. The set is in very fine condition, particularly the rather fragile slipcase, which is often found in damaged or hurt condition. This is the only signed set anywhere and has no flaws. A rare signed set thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977, the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A flawless collectible set. (SEE ALSO OTHER TONI MORRISON TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679434364.


Genre: Literary Fiction