William Gardner Smith. LAST OF THE CONQUERORS. New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1948. First edition, with FS colophon on copyright and no additional printings indicated. Hardcover. Grey cloth-covered boards, red lettering on spine, in pink and grey dust jacket. 8vo; 262pp. Names of previous owners, Dr. W. Edward Farrison and Dr. Patsy Perry, both former English professors at North Carolina Central University in Durham, written in ink on paste-downs. Whiteman p. 43.

8 1/8 x 5 5/8 in.

William Gardner Smith (1927-1974) was a journalist and novelist who spent much of his adult life in France, joining other African American writers such as Richard Wright who hoped to escape the racism they faced in the U.S. His debut novel, Last of the Conquerors, published when he was only twenty-one, draws from the author's own experiences working in Germany for the Army for two years beginning in 1946.

Boards with bumped corners and one light mark to lower board, spine very mildly sunned with typical handling wear at ends, slight separation from text block at head; minor stains at fore-edge, interior lightly toned with clean, unmarked pages; unclipped jacket ($2.75) with toning, scuffs, damp staining at spine, and significant edgewear with chips and tears. Very good/good.