Sale 2503 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 28, 2019

SCARCE PROSPECTUS FOR THE BLACK STAR LINE 265 c   (GARVEY, MARCUS.) All Thoughtful Negroes who Desire to Prepare against the Future . . . Will Invest in the Black Star Line. 6 pages, 14 x 8 1 / 2 inches, on one folding sheet; moderate toning and wear including an 1-inch closed tear in the lower margin. New York, 1919 [2,500/3,500] The Black Star Line offered a chance at economic parity with whites. This elaborate brochure is illustrated with full-length portraits of Garvey and of Captain Cockburn, the line’s first commander, as well as portraits of 4 corporate officers and an engraving of a ship. Another page headed “The Negro in the Realm of Commerce” explains that “Every Negro should buy stocks in the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation. . . . The Black Star Line will open up untold possibilities for the race. Stocks sold only to Negroes.” The last page of the brochure includes a subscription blank for ordering shares. One copy in OCLC (at Duke University), and one other copy traced at auction, at a Swann sale, 31 March 2016, lot 277.