les collections aristophil
152
119
KING MARTIN LUTHER
(1929-1968).
L.S. « Martin L. King »,
très certainement
Atlanta (Georgia)
30 juillet 1964, à Arthur Leonard ROSS ;
1 page in-4 dactylographiée, à en-tête
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
; en anglais.
2 000 / 2 500 €
Maintenant que le projet de loi sur les
droits civiques a été promulgué comme
loi, ils entrent dans une nouvelle phase
de la lutte pour les libertés… Ils espèrent
consolider les gains, et aider la loi à régner
dans les cœurs des Américains aussi bien
que dans les tribunaux. Il reste beaucoup
à faire. L’emploi est un problème sérieux
pour toute l’Amérique. Le droit de vote n’est
toujours pas assuré pour les Noirs dans
beaucoup d’États du Sud, malgré la clarté
de la loi. La protection de la police sera un
problème jusqu’à ce qu’il y ait mutation de
la structure politique des choses…
KING MARTIN LUTHER
(1929-1968).
Signed letter, signed « Martin
L. King », presumably
Atlanta
(Georgia)
30 July 1964, to Arthur
Leonard ROSS; 1 page in-4 format,
typed letter, letterhead stationery
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
; in English.
2 000 / 2 500 €
To Arthur Leonard Ross, sending thanks for
his contribution and outlining the ambitions
and challenges for the civil rights movement.
“[...] Now that the civil rights bill has been
signed into law, we move into a new phase of
the freedom struggle [...] We look forward now
to consolidating these gains, and helping the
law to reign in the hearts of Americans as well
as in the courts. There is still much work to be
done. Employment is a serious problem for
all America. Voting rights are still not insured
for Negroes in many Southern States, in spite
of the clarity of the law on the issue. Police
protection will be a problem until there is a
change in the political structure of things [...].”
120
KING MARTIN LUTHER
(1929-1968).
Why We Can’t Wait
New York, Harper & Row Publishers,
1964
1 200 / 1 500 €
In-8, XII-178 pp., 8 pages de planches.
Demi-cartonnage de l’éditeur, sous jaquette
(quelques pliures et usures). Dimensions :
151 x 221 mm.
Edition originale.
Envoi autographe de Martin Luther King à
Barbara Avery : « A ma paroissienne Barbara
Avery avec mes meilleurs vœux ».
Why We Can’t Wait [Pourquoi nous ne
pouvons attendre]
fut traduit en 1969 sous
le titre
La Révolution non violente.
KING MARTIN LUTHER
(1929-1968).
Why We Can’t Wait
New York, Harper & Row Publishers,
1964
1 200 / 1 500 €
In-8, XII-178 pp.; 8 pp. plates. Original half
cloth. Some offsetting to the front fly leaf,
very good dust jacket with slight creases and
wear. Dimensions :151 x 221 mm.
First edition.
Association copy, inscribed by the author:
“To my good member Barbara Avery. With
Best Wishes. Martin Luther King”.
Why We Can’t Wait
is about the nonviolent
movement against racial segregation
in the United States, and specifically the
1963 Birmingham campaign. The book
describes 1963 as a landmark year in the civil
rights movement, and as the beginning of
America’s “Negro Revolution”.
Published the same year Martin Luther
King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize,
Why We Can’t Wait
was his response to
the assassination of President Kennedy
as well as his attempt to place the
events of 1963 in historical perspective.
Includes King’s famous
Letter from
Birmingham Jail,
published here in full for
the first time.
In 1964, the paperback edition cost 60¢.
« Just as lightning makes no sound until it
strikes, the Negro Revolution generated quietly.
But when it struck, the revealing flash of
its power and the impact of its sincerity
and fervor displayed a force of a frightening
intensity. Three hundred years of humiliation,
abuse, and deprivation cannot be expected
to find voice in a whisper…
Because there is more to come; because
American society is bewildered by the
spectacle of the Negro in revolt; because
the dimensions are vast and the implications
deep in a nation with twenty million Negroes,
it is important to understand the history
that is being made today.»
Why We Can’t
Wait
(1964), p. 16.
119
120