[AFRICAN-AMERICANA]. THURMAN, Wallace (1902-1934). The Blacker the Berry. A Novel of Negro Life. New York: The Macaulay Company, 1929. 8vo. [iv], [1]-262, [4, blank] pp. Publisher's full brown cloth, front board and spine stamped in black, in the scarce original publisher's price-clipped dust jacket (cloth spine with later transparent coating, some wear, soiling to binding, lending library inkstamp at lower edge of text block, endleaves offset with apparent glue residue, foxing, front hinge cracking, rear hinge repaired, ffep. with a few tears, text toned with some soiling throughout, text creased (much of the creasing appears to be paper imperfections), several gutters overopened or cracking, p. 115 with a short marginal tear at top edge, pp. 145-148 slightly loose; jacket backed with later blue paper, jacket spine worn, chipped, toned soiled, jacket panels soiled, chipped (with occasional loss of text), edgeworn with several creased tears). A good copy in a fair jacket.FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE HARLEM RENAISSANCE NOVEL, IN THE VIRTUALLY UNOBTAINABLE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET. 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 Path?. 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).Measurements: 10 ?L x 7" W x 1"H.