8vo. Original black cloth with patterned boards; original unclipped pictorial dust jacket designed by Aaron Douglas (sunning to spine, toning, light wear along edges). Provenance: W. Edward Harrison (ownership signature on front pastedown).

FIRST EDITION stated on copyright page with code "C-D" indicating publication in March 1929. Considered a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement, Claude McKay published Banjo in 1929. The work was considered revolutionary not only for its critique of the Western prioritization of business interests over social justice but also for its queer coding found throughout the book, most notably in the final interaction between Banjo and Ray. Blockson 4736; Perry 377; Whiteman p.35.