“Strange Fruit,” Signed,by Lillian Smith, Banned Novel of Race and Segregation, 1944

Lillian Smith Segregation

Book

SMITH, Lillian. “Strange Fruit.” New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1944. Eleventh printing, wartime edition. 250 pages. Inscribed and signed by Smith on the front free endpaper. A Southern writer and outspoken opponent of segregation, Smith examines racial prejudice and violence through the relationship between a Black woman and a white man in a small Georgia town. The best-selling novel was banned in Boston on grounds of obscenity, making it an important source for examining race, censorship, and Southern literature.

Lillian Smith, a white Southern opponent of segregation, wrote of an interracial relationship and the violence of Jim Crow before a broad national audience. The novel's portrayal of Black characters has drawn criticism from Black readers, including civil rights advocate Gordon B. Hancock, who questioned its depiction of Black womanhood. This contested reception makes the book valuable for studying both white Southern antiracism and debates over representation of the Black American experience. The novel’s commercial success and censorship brought these questions of race and freedom of expression before a national audience. Smith’s inscription reads, “With my good wishes, / Sincerely yours, / Lillian Smith.” The publisher’s notice explains that the complete, unabridged text was reset in smaller type to conserve paper under wartime quotas. Blue cloth in an unclipped dust jacket. Jacket heavily rubbed, with chipping and loss along the edges and a substantial tear to the rear panel; light toning and scattered staining to the photographed leaves. Overall in good condition.

Item #24084

Price: $780.00