Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (Illustrated Appleton Edition), 1890 🦊📜🇺🇸

1. Introduction 📜🔍🏛️

This is a 1890 illustrated edition of Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris. Published by D. Appleton and Company, this book is a text of American folklore.

The book documents the oral tradition of African American folklore for a wider audience. It serves as a primary source that provides a look into the social dynamics of the post-Reconstruction South. The volume is a piece for a collector of American literature, folklore, or Black history.

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2. About the Book 📖✍️✨

Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings is a collection of African American folk tales, songs, and proverbs.

The stories were transcribed by journalist Joel Chandler Harris. The tales are narrated by the character of Uncle Remus, a former enslaved person, to a young boy. The most known stories feature the characters of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear.

The book's content, while now viewed as a problematic example of minstrelsy and racial caricature, was an attempt to popularize African American folklore at the time. The book provides a record of a specific era in publishing and social history.

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3. About the Artist/Author/Maker ✍️🏛️

Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) was a journalist and author from Georgia. He began his career working at a plantation newspaper, where he documented the oral traditions of enslaved people. Harris stated his goal in writing the book was to preserve what he saw as a folk culture.

The book’s success made him a national figure in the "Local Color" movement. His work has been critiqued for its use of dialect and for perpetuating racial stereotypes through the character of Uncle Remus. The illustrations for this edition were done by Frederick S. Church, an artist of the era.

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4. Historical/Political Era Context 🌍🕰️📜

This book was published in 1890, a decade after the original, during the period when the Jim Crow era was taking hold in the American South. The book reflects a white, Southern perspective on race relations during a period when racial tensions were present.

The book is a product of a culture that simultaneously romanticized the antebellum South and documented the oppression of Black people. The book's popularity documents a moment in which the artistic contributions of African Americans were being recognized in a paternalistic way.

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5. The Ideal Collector 💡🧐🏛️

This book is intended for a collector of American folklore, a scholar of post-Reconstruction literature, or a bibliophile specializing in 19th-century publications. The book is a piece for a collector who understands the complexities of the era it documents.

The book is a piece for an individual building a library that documents the history of American folklore and the racial complexities of the post-Reconstruction era. It is a suitable item for a collector who values a book for its content and its specific history.

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6. Value & Rarity 💎✨🏛️

This illustrated edition is a collectible item. Its value is driven by its rarity and historical context. First editions of this specific illustrated edition are becoming uncommon. They were popular books, and copies in good condition are difficult to find, as they were subject to heavy use.

The book is a primary source for understanding the history of American folklore. The price is a direct reflection of the book's condition for an item that is 135 years old.

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7. Condition 🔎📚✨

This book shows wear consistent with its age.

• The interior pages are intact, with clear text and illustrations.

• The condition of the illustrated cloth binding shows wear.

• There is expected toning and foxing to the pages.

• The integrity of the illustrations is documented.

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8. Translation of Inscriptions/Ephemera (Conditional) ✍️📜🔤

This book contains no known personal inscriptions or unique markings. The value of this volume is derived from its original state as a first edition.

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9. Fun Facts & Unique Features 🤓📜🤩

• Walt Disney purchased the rights to the book and created the 1946 film Song of the South.

• The illustrations were done by Frederick S. Church, a well-known artist of the era.

• The Uncle Remus character was based on several formerly enslaved people whom Harris knew during his youth.

• The book's popularity led to a series of sequels and spin-off books.