8vo. (Upper corner of front flyleaf reattached with archival tape.) Original cloth; dust jacket (spine panel slightly faded, minor soiling); slipcase.

 

“THE STRONG MAN IS THE MAN WHO CAN STAND UP FOR HIS RIGHTS AND NOT HIT BACK…”

 

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, with the publisher's code H-H on copyright page.

 

PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY KING WITH HIS NONVIOLENCE CREDO on front free endpaper: “The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back. With Best Wishes / Martin L. King Jr.”.  The quotation comes from his address given to the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church on November 14, 1956, following the MIA’s failure to receive a temporary restraining order to prevent the city of Montgomery from interfering with the car pool system which enabled blacks to participate in the Montgomery bus boycott. Anticipating the imminent desegregation of city buses, King asks everyone to remain nonviolent during the first challenging days. Echoing Gandhi, he tells them that “I'm not asking you to be a coward. ...You can be courageous and yet nonviolent.”  A SUPERB INSCRIPTION: ENCAPSULATING KING’S PHILOSOPHY AND ADVOCACY FOR NONVIOLENCE.