"LET A BEAUTY FULL OF HEALING AND A STRENGTH OF FINAL CLENCHING BE THE PULSING IN OUR SPIRITS AND OUR BLOOD"

(CATLETT, Elizabeth) WALKER, Margaret. For My People. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1992. Large folio(18-1/2 by 22 inches), original red cloth; housed in original clamshell box. $5000.

Signed limited first edition, number 331 of only 400 copies signed on the limitation page by poet Margaret Walker and artist Elizabeth Catlett, illustrated with five vibrant four-color lithographs by Catlett.

Walker, a central member of the Chicago Black Renaissance of the 1930s and 1940s, was awarded the prestigious Yale Younger Poets competition in 1942 for her collection For My People: this volume illustrates that work's title piece. Artist Elizabeth Catlett is considered by many to be one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Born in Washington, D.C., she graduated from Howard University before going to graduate school in Iowa, where she roomed with Margaret Walker, who was also studying for a master's degree. After winning her first prize in sculpture in 1940, Catlett moved to Mexico where she became a member of El Taller de Gráfica Popular, working with muralists such as Diego Rivera. She has had over 50 one-woman shows in the United States and Europe. "Beautifully striking, singularly apt, these are pictures that, while avoiding the literal, empathetically complement Margaret Walker's poem" (LEC newsletter).

Fine condition.