RARE TYPED PAGE FROM AN EARLY DRAFT OF THE BOOK VERSION OF ROOTS, HEAVILY ANNOTATED IN ALEX HALEY’S HAND, HANDSOMELY MATTED AND FRAMED WITH A PHOTOGRAPHIC GROUP PORTRAIT FROM THE MOVIE SET OF THE ROOTS MINISERIES

HALEY, Alex. Typed draft page annotated. No place, circa 1975. Single sheet of goldenrod paper measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches; matted and framed with photographic image from Roots, entire piece measures 14 by 24 inches. $3800.

Rare typed page from an early book draft of Roots heavily annotated in green felt-tip marker in Alex Haley’s own hand, handsomely matted and framed with a photographic group portrait from the movie set of the Roots miniseries.

This typed page is from an early draft of Alex Haley’s Roots, one of the most popular works of African-American historical fiction ever written. Alex Haley has heavily annotated in his own hand in green felt-tip marker. The page details the changes Haley made to the conversation between Miss Malizy and the slave Kizzy, a scene which occurs when Kizzy is first separated from her parents and sold to her new owner. “Haley’s most celebrated novel, Roots, has been compared to both Moby Dick and War and Peace. The Washington Post called it the most highly acclaimed book of our time… The author immediately became a household name, as he won over 270 awards. A phenomenon of the decade, Roots mesmerized Americans and readers of literature throughout the world. No novel since the publications of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Gone With the Wind captured the public interest on the subject of slavery and its ramifications… In Roots Haley successfully traced his ancestors with a birth in 1750 in Gambia, through oral history with painstaking research and thereby put into perspective the historical background of millions of other African Americans… Haley’s 12 years of work on Roots won him a special Pulitzer prize on April 18, 1977” (Blockson 3939).

Fine condition.