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Lot 345 Continued
Provenance:This pamphlet was given to the noted philologist Dr. George Phillip Krapp by
William Harden of the Georgia Historical Society in 1919. Dr. Krapp then wrote an entire
paper on it, published in 1924, a Xerox copy of which we include here, together with the
original letter from Dr. Hayden transferring this paper to Dr. Krapp.A very important paper
with a fine provenance from the grandson of Dr. Krapp.
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(ISLAM.) DREWALI, NOBLE.
The Moorish Science Temple of America.
The Divine Constitution and By-Laws.
Broadside, printed on heavy cardboard stock,
12 x 9 inches, with a full-length portrait of Ali in the center.
Baltimore, circa 1928
[1,000/1,500]
A RARE BROADSIDE
.
Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929), bornTimothy Drew in North Carolina,
gave several versions of his life, all of which were dubious but quite colorful.The last and most
elaborate was that he was the son of two former slaves, raised by a Moroccan father and a
Cherokee mother.After running off with the circus, he somehow found a “lost version” of the
Holy Koran, and was thus inspired to begin his Temple, loosely fashioned after Islam.
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(ISLAM.) DREWALI,NOBLE.
Prophet Noble Drew Ali, founder of Moorish
Science Temple of America.
R.D. Jones Photo. Gelatin silver print full-length portrait,
9-1/2 x 7-5/8 inches, with caption and photographer’s name in the negative.
Np, circa 1930s-1940s
[800/1,200]
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