Original publisher’s dust jacket artwork for The Story of the Negro Retold by Carter G. Woodson, published in 1935.

“Truth comes to us from the past, then, like gold washed down from the mountains.”

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The first edition of The Story of the Negro Retold traced the African Diaspora and delved into topics such as American slavery, the American Revolution, Abolitionism, Reconstruction, the “Negro Problem,” and World War I.

In the second edition, Carter G. Woodson enlarged the text to encompass Black American life in the 1920s and 1930s, introducing subjects like health, social activities, business endeavors, church life, education, and social welfare. Woodson’s concluding remarks addressed the need for Black Americans to strive to have a “Higher Aim”—to never forget their difficult past or their present-day achievements.

The artwork for the book’s dust jacket was created by James Lesesne Wells, a printmaker, graphic artist, and educator who graduated from Columbia University in 1925. Wells later worked in Harlem and Washington, D.C.

Wells worked as an illustrator, often focusing on African-American history and social issues. As Wells noted, “becoming aware of the social and economic conditions of the time and the awakening of the ‘New Negro’, I felt that the graphic arts would lend itself readily to the projection of ideas about these issues.” (James Wells :: The Johnson Collection, LLC)

Together with Lois Mailou Jones, Wells illustrated books for Woodson’s Associated Publishers, one of America’s most important Black-owned publishing houses in the 20th century.

The wraparound illustrations on the firm’s dust jackets became an iconic design style used by Lois Mailou Jones and James Lesesne Wells with great artistic impact.

With this example, Wells adeptly employs the wrap-around design to convey a compelling message about cultural representation and perspective through visual storytelling.

From left to right and background to foreground, Wells’s artwork chronicles the African Diaspora and the advancement and development of Black Americans and their community in a linear and chronological manner.

In the distant background, African thatched-roof huts dot the shoreline; a slave ship is anchored nearby in the water. Moving forward, the viewer sees shirtless figures, symbolizing enslaved Africans, toil under the weight of carried objects as they trudge from the shoreline to higher ground. These figures undergo a transformation, evolving from bare-chested men into individuals attired in modern clothing. Simultaneously, as the viewer’s eyes move from left to right, the thatched huts and slave ship gradually yield to the presence of churches, civic buildings, and schools, where children carry their textbooks.

Finally, in the foreground, a young woman holds a torch aloft in her left hand, serving as a symbol that hints at the ideals of freedom and progress. She stands in solidarity, shoulder to shoulder, with a young man of similar age.

This art object is striking due to its substantial size, measuring almost 2 feet in height and spanning nearly 3 feet in width. It is the largest original dust jacket artwork we have seen. Its in-person presence is undeniably impressive, lending itself well to exhibition and educational purposes.

Price: $25,000.00