Dry Drops from a Pen [Cover Title].

[N.p.]: self published, (©1937). 10¾” x 7½”. Stapled wrappers. pp. [36]. Good: wrappers with moderate wear, some light staining to front wrap, light scattered foxing, center bifolium detached, one poem with five small inked checkmarks and a few inked numbers, two line dedication crossed out in pencil, inscription in crayon on one page, though possibly by the author (see below).

A collection of 52 poems by the son of Frank Albert Young, Sr., an important African American sports writer. This is the first of at least three books of poetry issued by Young, Jr. The little we could learn of him is that he was living in Washington, D.C. in 1940 when the Pittsburgh Courier mentioned the publication of this book and he was the director of the Harlem YMCA writer's workshop as of 1945.

There is an inscription in pencil by Young to a “Thomas” on the title page that is dated 1938. “To Thomas” is overwritten in crayon. The dedication page has an owner inscription dated 1939 written by a sixth grader at New Orleans' Joseph A. Craig School named Eartha Douglas. The sixth page is inscribed “My Pal Thomas Mitchell” in crayon above the poem “Fate”, with “Frank Albert Young, Jr.” signed below it. While Young's signature on this page differs substantially from that on the title page, the use of crayon there leaves open the argument that the book is twice inscribed, as opposed to Thomas' or Eartha's work. If Thomas was also a child, it's even more likely the second inscription was by Young as the poem begins, “They shun you little fellow/Because your skin is black/But your heart stays mellow/As you trod the beaten track” and ends with “They shun you little fellow/Because your skin's not white/But your heart is mellow/Although they wrong the right.” This appears to be the only poem in the book which overtly deals with race. Others include homages to Amelia Earhart and New Orleans' French Quarter.

OCLC locates six copies.

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