The Book of Negro Humor.

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1966. First edition of Hughes' compilation of classic and contemporary Negro humor. Octavo, original boards. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "A Very Happy Birthday to Amy Springarn ~ Sincerely, Langston New York, January 29, 1966." The recipient, Amy Einstein Spingarn was a philanthropist, poet, and artist known especially for her paintings of prominent African-American cultural figures. Upon the death of her husband, Joel Spingarn, in 1939, Amy Spingarn was elected to finish out his term on the NAACP Board of Directors. Fine in a very good dust jacket. A fine association. Humor is laughing at what you haven't got, when you out to have it... Humor is what you wish in your secret heart were not funny, but it is, and you must laugh... Humor maintains its distance while at the same time keeping you company, as long as you are capable of meeting it halfway." These are some of the definitions that have guided Langston Hughes in his selection of prose and verse, the sung and spoken word, representative of the best Negro Humor. Includes selections from the writings of E.C. Adams, Louis Armstrong, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, and Richard Wright.