I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

New York: Random House, (1969). First edition, 1st printing. 8vo. 281 pp. Original black cloth-covered boards, stamped in gold, red, in original unclipped ($5.95) dust-jacket. Handling wear to panels and edges - particular to spine crown and foot. Protected in archival mylar. Light fading to spine. Vertical crease to left flap. Mild soiling present to spine crown area with wraparound visible to verso. Book is tight, with a mild lean and firm. Trace soil evidence. Mild shelf wear to edges with rubbing along the panels - particular to spine crown and foot. Interior clean and unmarked. Previous owner’s small sticker to front free end paper. A few bumps to panel edges and corners. Some light toning to pages and edges.

Dust Jacket: Very Good

Hardcover: Very Good

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography describing the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.”