THE OLD TYPES PASS. Gullah Sketches of the Carolina Sea Islands by Whaley, Marcellus S.; Edna Reed Whaley, illus - [1925]

Boston: Christopher Publishing House, [1925]. 192 pages, plus 8 full page plates (including frontispiece) after drawings by Edna Reed Whaley. Music for several songs printed with the text. Original blue cloth stamped in gilt. 20.5 x 14 cm. Ex-Sondley Reference Library with faint reminder of removed call number at base of spine, attractive engraved bookplate on front pastedown, and embossed stamp on frontispiece, title, and two other text leaves. None of the other plates are stamped. Else very good. Gilt on spine and covers is just a trifle dull, mild soiling to the cloth. Slight marginal toning to the plates and a few tiny spots of foxing at the edges, but a cleaner than usual example of a book that is highly prone to foxing. Provenance: Presentation inscription to Forster (a.k.a. Foster) Alexander Sondley (1857-1931), lawyer, historian, and collector of Asheville, N.C., from J.T. Gittman (perhaps James Thornton Gittman, proprietor of Gittman's Book Store in Columbia, S.C.), dated in the year of publication, on the front free endpaper. FIRST EDITION. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the front free endpaper. A collection of folklore tales from the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina with the dialogue given in Gullah dialect throughout. The author's wife, Edna Reed Whaley, illustrated the book with a series of portraits of African Americans from the region. At the end, Whaley discusses the phonetics of Gullah in a glossary (pp. 159-165) and provides definitions of numerous Gullah terms and idioms (pp. [166]-192). Marcus Seabrook Whaley (1885-1961), a native of Charleston, was a lawyer and judge in Columbia. He also served as president of the Columbia Art Association. As well as being an artist herself, Edna Reed Whaley (1884-1979), was a leader the revitalization of the arts in Columbia, being a founding member of the Columbia Art Association and a founder of the Columbia Art Museum. Turnbull V, p. 255. Burkett, "American English Dialects in Literature," p. 134. Scarce.