With a Funny Two-Page Inscription
And a Voice to Sing With
Publication: New York: Summit Books, 1987. First edition.
Notes: An extraordinary first edition of the folk singer and activist's memoir, inscribed to her attorney with a double-page drawing.
This copy of her second memoir is inscribed to Melvin Morgan. The inscription on the front endpaper and pastedown reads, "Love to Mel—and many thanks—and courragio!! (will you still defend me?) Joan Baez." To this Baez has added a wonderful drawing of Baez, Morgan, and a third person, perhaps someone who worked for Morgan's legal practice.
In the center, Baez has Morgan saying, "Joan, you are aware of how we arrive at your adjusted gross income?" The unnamed third person is shown thinking, "Oh, shit. I don't know this woman." On the left side of the drawing, Baez draws a self-portrait with a thought bubble: "Does he mean my allowance??"
Baez was one of the most popular folk singers in the 1960s, she played at Woodstock, dated Bob Dylan (and Steve Jobs, although that's not in this book), and has worked for progressive causes for sixty years. In 2023, Baez published, Am I Pretty When I Fly, a collection of her comic captioned drawings.
SOURCE: I bought a signed Roald Dahl (already sold to a Dahl collector) from a Portland couple. They told a friend about it and the friend sold me this book, which had belonged to her father.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing, with a numberline ending in 1). This is a very good copy in a like dust jacket, showing some signs of use, including a light coffee stain on the front board and a couple of dents in the jacket. Still, this has to be one of the most spectacular signed Baez books anywhere.
Item No: #15355
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