HARRIS, Joel Chandler (1848-1908). Uncle Remus His Songs and Sayings... New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881. 8vo. Illustrated with 8 plates and several intertextual illustrations. 231, [8, ads] pp. Publisher's full green cloth, front board and spine stamped in gilt, front board stamped in black, publisher's patterned endleaves.

Light rubbing to boards, corners a bit bumped, text lightly toned, occasionally thumbsoiled, a few gutters overopened. Bright and fine. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE ("presumptive" on p. 9, and no mention of this title in the ads). This book, Harris' first, was hugely successful and, unfortunately, helped to reinforce certain stereotypes of African-Americans, as well as portraying a sunny look at slavery in the antebellum South.  Despite this, Harris put in serious effort to preserve the oral traditions of African-Americans, and his books are a reliable source for this material.