From Slavery to the Bishopric in the A.M.E. Church An Autobiography.
[Philadelphia: A.M.E. Book Concern], 1928. 104pp., plus four plates. Original blue cloth, gilt titles on front cover. Some rubbing to cloth and titles, minor edge wear, spine end a bit scuffed. Ownership ink inscription on front pastedown, ownership initials on fore-edge. Internally clean. Scarce in any condition. Very good. Item #4401
The scarce second edition of Bishop William Henry Heard's autobiography, after the first of 1924. Bishop Heard was born into slavery in a log cabin on the plantation of Thomas Jones in Elbert County, Georgia on June 25, 1850. His mother was a farm hand on the plantation; Heard refers to his mother by the pejorative term given to "a woman who had children regularly...a 'breeder.'" Bishop Heard describes his life in Georgia, "the first and second times" he was "sold," his education at church, his freedom after the conclusion of the Civil War (when he was "but fifteen years of age"), his life in politics, his travels, his experiences in the ministry, and more. Bishop Heard dedicates the present work to "the self-made men in the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who have, and are giving their lives to the Sacred Cause of preaching the Gospel and advancing the Church." He also begins his Foreword with the hope that "Those who may read this little booklet, The Autobiography of my life...may be benefitted and encouraged, especially the young men and women of our Race." With an introduction by Rev. H.H. Cooper, the Director of the A.M.E. Church Survey, and published by the A.M.E. Book Concern, an African-American publishing house in Philadelphia. The text concludes with a poem by Ephraim D. Tyler of Shreveport, Louisiana entitled, "The Life of William H. Heard." The four plates in the work feature the "Log Hut" in Georgia in which Heard was born, Bishop Heard himself, a drawing of his mother plowing the fields in 1850, and a photograph of his residence, Greystone Terrace. A highly-readable autobiography of a noted African American minister from Georgia.
Price: $650