BOIS

viii + 192pp., 8vo. In brown printed wraps. In fair condition, on aged paper, in worn wraps. Stamps and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library. A scholarly work, with contributions by Dr J. G. Merrill, President of Fisk University, Henry N. Lee, of LeMoyne Institute, E. H. Holmes, of the Prairie View Normal School, Alexander Hamilton, Jr, of the firm of Hamilton & Son, Building Contractors, and W. T. B. Williams. Indexed and with three-page 'Bibliography of the Negro Artisan and the Industrial Training of Negroes' Uncommon: six copies on COPAC.

Spencer was a sharp operator (see Mandelbrote ed., 'Out of Print and into Profit', pp.285-287) and the present items give an hint of his methods. (The two letters are addressed from the premises at which his staff were said to practice their 'sophistications'.) His two letters (both signed 'W. T. Spencer') are in good condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper, with the second dated by Bois to 1931. Bois's letter (signed 'Winifred Bois') is in fair condition, with a short closed tear along one edge. Letter One: Spencer to Bois, 23 February [1931].

English wit and man of letters (1774-1850). All three letters in octavo and skilfully mounted onto quarto paper. Two letters of three pages and one of two pages. All three in very good condition. Playful, witty communications to an intimate friend, characteristic of a droll, caustic wit, 'capital at the dinner table', who 'loved a joke, even in court' (Dictionary of National Biography). LETTER ONE (2 pages): Declines an invitation.