A Rap on Race

First UK edition. 8vo. Pp. [vi], 256, [2, blank]. Black cloth boards, lettered in silver to spine. In a black, typographic dustwrapper, printed in orange, white and blue (priced £2.20 net/ 44s to front flap).

Top edge somewhat dusty, with a hint of browning to the uppermost edge of the dustwrapper verso, else Fine.

Renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead and author and social critic James Baldwin in conversation. Mead: "The white world... [has] built its dignity and built its sense of identity on the fact it wasn't black, the way males in this country built their sense of superiority over the fact that they are not female." Baldwin: "We've got to be as clear-headed about human beings as possible, because we are still each other's only hope."

Transcript of a seven and a half hour conversation between Mead and Baldwin, which took place (over several sessions) on a New York stage on August 26, 1970. Although their conclusions tend to diverge, the directness with which they discuss race and society is rare not only in print but even in person-to-person conversation. "[A] remarkable and prescient piece of the cultural record." –Maria Popova