Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands, First Edition, 1942

Lydia Parrish

First Edition

[African American] Parraish, Lydia. Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands. New York: Creative Age Press, Inc. 1942, first edition. Quarto, 256 pages. Original black boards with red and white font and pictorial cover. Original pictorial dust jacket in mylar wrapper. Music trabscribed by Creighton Churchill and Robert MacGimsey, with an introduction by Olin Downes. Multiple black and white photographs of locals and of the author throughout. A comprehensive and historical account of sixty antebellum folk songs from ex-slaves and slave descendants from the relatively isolated coastal regions of Georgia. Lydia Parrish was a New Jersey native married to painter Maxfield Parrish. They frequented St. Simon's Island in Georgia where many ex-slave descendants resided. Over the course of 20 years, Parrish spent time with the locals of Georgia's regional islands, building relationships with them and taking a deep dive into their customs. Parrish's intentions were to keep the oral tradition of the Gullah people alive by placing these ancestrally and culturally important songs permanently in writing. Parrish phonetically transcribes the dialects of the locals interweaving their music with descriptions of their language, religious and social customs, and material culture. Dust jacket has two large chips to top and bottom of spine and edge wear. Paper was placed underneath and a mylar wrapping over as reinforcements. Binding is tight, covers, text, and pages are clean. Overall very good condition. A culturally impactful compilation of a lost tradition that has outlived those who created them.

Item #20681

Price: $285.00