[AFRICAN-AMERICAN]. THURMAN, Wallace (1902-1934). The Blacker the Berry. A Novel of Negro Life. New York: The Macaulay Company, 1929.

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Summer Fine Books & Manuscripts

By Potter & Potter Auctions

Jul 9, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-07-09 11:00:00 2026-07-09 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Summer Fine Books & Manuscripts https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/potter-potter/summer-fine-books-manuscripts-22825
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• Lot Description

  [AFRICAN-AMERICAN]. THURMAN, Wallace (1902-1934). The Blacker the Berry. A Novel of Negro Life. New York: The Macaulay Company, 1929. 8vo. 262 pp. Publisher's full brown cloth, front board and spine stamped in black. Lacks the virtually unobtainable dust jacket. FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE HARLEM RENAISSANCE NOVEL. 

  Condition

  Binding toned, rubbed, soiled, endleaves and text toned and occasionally foxed, last few leaves and rear endleaves more foxed, an early newspaper review of this title affixed to ffep. with offsetting to the fp., skewed. Still, good. 

• Provenance

  This novel is Thurman's first published book, and a famous, though rare, Harlem Renaissance book. It is the first novel that explores racism within the African-American community -- namely, the discrimination by light-skinned people against those of darker complexions. This novel originated the famous line, "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice." Thurman was a journalist, novelist, playwright and publisher, and was an early proponent of civil rights. He was deeply connected to other figures of the Harlem Renaissance (including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Bruce Nugent, and Gwendolyn B. Bennett). In the late 1920s, Thurman worked as a screenwriter at Fox, MGM, and Pathe. He lived his life as a closeted gay man, and married a woman, Louise Thompson, to cover that fact (their marriage only lasted six months). 

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